Tesco recruits 45,000 UK supermarket staff

Britain's biggest retailer Tesco has recruited more than 45,000 staff in two weeks, largely to cover supermarket workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak, it said Wednesday.

In its annual earnings update, Tesco said costs were forecast to increase by between £650 million and £925 million ($787 million and $1.12 billion) on "significant... increases in payroll, distribution and store expenses". Chief executive Dave Lewis said "COVID-19 has shown how critical the food supply chain is to the UK" but he noted that "initial panic buying has subsided and service levels are returning to normal". Tesco said that "more than 45,000 new colleagues" joined since March 20, including drivers helping to meet soaring demand for home deliveries.

Sales surged by nearly one third during the short-lived panic-buying, Tesco said.

It added that "the size and nature of our workforce means we have experienced a significant absence of colleagues". However the surge in new jobs meant that Tesco has been able to increase home deliveries by more than 20 percent, or 145,000 extra drops.