Aldi is consulting employees over plans to cut up to 150 technology positions at its UK head office, extending a restructuring programme that has already reduced staffing across finance, administration, and buying.
The discount supermarket is reorganising parts of its international operations and transferring some back-office activities to external service providers as it seeks to reduce costs and centralise support functions.
The latest proposals follow 103 redundancies in finance and administration earlier this year, together with the removal of approximately 20 buying director positions and a small number of regional management roles.
Aldi has been working with professional services group Genpact on outsourcing arrangements that include moving administrative and financial activities to India and other overseas locations.
The wider restructuring also involves operations in countries including Romania and Bulgaria, although the allocation of individual UK functions between external providers has not been fully disclosed.
The retailer says the latest changes are being introduced gradually and remain subject to consultation. Employees working in its stores are not affected by the current proposals.
Further changes involving payroll functions have been reported as a possibility, but no confirmed number of additional positions has been announced.
Aldi’s restructuring is taking place as competition between Britain’s major supermarkets intensifies, placing pressure on pricing, margins, and operational expenditure.
Figures from Worldpanel by Numerator show Aldi’s sales increased by 0.4% during the 12 weeks to 1 November, compared with growth of 6.6% at Lidl, 1.2% at Tesco, and 0.8% at Sainsbury’s.
Its share of the British grocery market declined from 10.5% to 10.4% over the same period.
Centralised operations alongside store expansion —
The changes reflect a wider approach to business administration in which international retailers consolidate functions previously managed within individual national operations.
Finance, procurement, technology support, and other central services can be organised across multiple markets, potentially reducing duplicated systems and administrative overheads.
Such restructuring can also change the skills and staffing required within national headquarters, particularly where functions are transferred to shared-service centres or external providers.
Aldi has not published a detailed estimate of the savings expected from the current programme or linked the proposed technology redundancies directly to the adoption of artificial intelligence.
The company said its operating model was being reviewed internationally to ensure it could maintain competitive prices.
Its spokesperson confirmed that adjustments to the UK business would follow consultation and that affected employees would receive support.
Alongside the reductions in administrative staffing, Aldi continues to invest in its British retail network.
In September, the company outlined plans to invest approximately £900m in new stores and distribution facilities during 2027, supporting a longer-term ambition to operate 1,500 UK locations.
The investment programme follows a period of rapid expansion that established Aldi as one of Britain’s largest supermarket operators, although recent trading figures indicate that growth has slowed.
Established competitors have increasingly introduced price-matching initiatives covering selected products, narrowing some of the differences historically associated with discount supermarket shopping.
Aldi says it has invested £300m in reducing prices across approximately 900 products this year, maintaining its focus on attracting price-conscious shoppers.
The combination of store investment and headquarters restructuring leaves the business expanding its retail footprint while reorganising the support operations behind it.
The proposed technology job reductions remain subject to employee consultation, with the company yet to confirm how many positions will ultimately be eliminated.
