Lidl to hire 600 new Irish staff as supermarket wars ramp up

GERMAN DISCOUNT RETAILER Lidl is set to hire 600 new staff across its Irish operations over the next two years.

Recruitment for the positions will start straight away and will continue over the next 24 months.

The company said that the jobs would be “across all business units including store operations, warehouse and distribution support as well as head office and regional office roles”.

It added that it will be on the lookout for managers, deputy managers and store assistants as well as employees for warehouse and distribution support, many of whom will likely work in Lidl’s largest warehouse which is in planning at Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

Lidl, which opened its first shops in Ireland in 2000, now employs about 4,000 across 146 stores in the Republic of Ireland.

Speaking to Fora, Maeve McCleane, the director of human resources at Lidl Ireland, said that the company “probably increased the workforce by about 400″ over the previous two-year period.

Grocery wars

She said that the increased hiring drive was as a result of the company’s increased market share in recent years, which has put it in direct competition with traditional Irish supermarket chains such as Dunnes Stores and SuperValu.

Lidl is competing with Dunnes Stores

The most recent report from Kantar Worldpanel Ireland showed that Lidl had an 11.9% share of Irish grocery sales in the 12 weeks to the end of June 17, up from 11.7% during the same period last year.

Like-for-like sales rose by 4.5%, above the market average of 3.3%. Lidl, alongside fellow German discounter Aldi, has been growing its presence significantly in Ireland over the last number of years at the expense of the larger chains, most noticeably Tesco. The UK company saw its market share drop from 23% to 21.9% in the 12 weeks to the end of June 17.

“Our market share has increased and inevitably we have a significant number of roles where we need support, whether that is buying supplies, IT or infrastructure,” McCleane added

New stores

She said that the company will open several new stores over the next 24 months. Although she did not give exact figures, she noted that the firm already has six more stores that are either in development or planning.

She said that the firm eventually plans to open nearly 200 stores in Ireland, although she added that this was a “long-term goal”.

“Now we are looking for people with retail experience and also people who may not have as much experience but also have drive and ambition,” she said.

Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell-O’Connor welcomed the announcement and described it as “a real vote of confidence in the Irish economy”.