Aldi to add 360 staff as it ramps up expansion plans

Supermarket chain Aldi has announced plans to hire an additional 360 staff this year as it ramps up its expansion plans.

The German retailer, which plans to add six new stores to its 155-strong outlet network nationwide in 2023, said the new hires would help the group to meet still-buoyant consumer demand for groceries.

The new hires will be paid a minimum rate of €13.85 per hour, Aldi said, after it moves to adopt the new living wage for 2023 on February 1st.

It follows a successful recruitment campaign last year through which Aldi added 450 new hires. However, the pace of job creation at the group has slowed recently after it hired 1,050 people in 2020 and 600 in 2021.

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Nevertheless, Aldi said last year that it planned to invest €320 million in 30 new stores in coming years. Some €63 million is to be invested in the west of Ireland over the next two years, creating 140 full-time jobs.

Aldi also said last year it planned to expand its footprint in Dublin, reiterating that it was examining 25 sites as potential locations for 11 new stores, with plans to invest €75 million.

[ Tesco’s Irish sales grow as festive period boosts spending ]

[ Supermarket food prices rising at fastest rate on record - Kantar ]

On Monday, the group said it now had plans to “fast track” its Dublin expansion plan, which it said would see 11 new stores open across the next five years, with the first, in Adamstown, to open “in the coming weeks”.

“We are continuing to reinvest in Ireland by creating and maintaining jobs throughout the country and adopting the minimum wage for colleagues,” said Aldi Ireland group managing director Niall O’Connor in a statement. “We added 450 new jobs last November, and we have seen continued strong demand in the market for the unbeatable value that Aldi offers.”

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“Our wider commercial plan in Ireland will see us continue to expand and develop our store network. We have plans to open six new stores this year, the first of which will be opening shortly in Adamstown. This store will represent the first store opening in Dublin since we announced our ambitious €73 million investment plans for the capital, which will see us build and open 11 new Aldi stores over the coming five years,” he said.

Operating profits at Aldi Ireland topped €39 million in 2021, a 44 per cent decline from the previous year, as the German-owned supermarket chain grappled with higher prices and the disruption of Covid-19, accounts filed last November revealed.

In a report attached to the accounts, the directors said 2021 was another year of growth for the business, albeit at a slower pace.

[ Aldi Ireland plans to eliminate at least 60 tonnes of food waste in 2023 ]

“The comparatively lower rate of turnover growth reflects the adverse impact of Covid-19 restrictions which significantly disrupted normal shopping patterns throughout the period under review,” they said.

The group’s cost of sales increased more than 2 per cent in the year to more than €1.9 billion while administrative expenses surged by about 35 per cent in 2021 to €53.7 million, eating into Aldi’s margins. Wage and salary costs grew by 5.8 per cent to €157.7 million, with the group hiring an additional 300 employees over the period, bringing its overall Irish headcount to 4,744.

Earlier this month, the UK arm of the chain said sales during December were 26 per cent higher than 2021 as people returned to in-store shopping, prices rose and the group opened more stores.