LONDON: Tesco will create 16,000 permanent UK jobs to meet a coronavirus-fuelled surge in online grocery demand, the supermarket giant said Monday in a boost for the country's embattled retail sector. Britain's biggest retailer added in a statement that it expects "the majority" of jobs to be filled by temporary staff drafted in during the pandemic to cope with soaring home food deliveries amid the country's lockdown.

"Since the start of the pandemic, our colleagues have helped us to more than double our online capacity, safely serving nearly 1.5 million customers every week and prioritising vulnerable customers to ensure they get the food they need," said Jason Tarry, chief executive for Tesco UK and Ireland.

The new permanent positions are in addition to around 4,000 full-time jobs created by Tesco during the pandemic. Some 47,000 temporary staff joined Tesco at the peak of the coronavirus, most of whom have reached the end of their contracts. Pre-pandemic, online sales at Tesco accounted for about nine percent of total revenue.