Ocado to cut 1,000 jobs in £150m cost-saving drive
ocado will cut around 1, 000 jobs—about 5% of its global workforce—with roughly two-thirds of losses in the UK as the retail technology business restructures to save about £150m.
Scale of the cuts and where they will fall
about 1, 000 roles will go, with roughly two-thirds of the job losses affecting its UK operations and about half of the cuts coming from technology teams while the remainder are support staff. The business is based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
How the company will restructure its technology units
As part of a substantial restructuring programme, the business will merge Ocado Solutions and Ocado Intelligent Automation into a single division and restructure its commercial, support and R& D operations. It plans to scale back research and development, a move the company says will help cut about £150m in technology and support costs in 2026.
CEO comment and recent role reductions
Tim Steiner, the chief executive, said, "Regrettably, this means a significant number of roles will no longer be required. We are grateful to colleagues who are affected by these changes, and whose talent and hard work have made a lasting contribution to Ocado. We will support those impacted through this process. " The latest round follows a year-old reduction in which the company cut 500 technology roles while saying it was using more artificial intelligence to help with research and engineering.
Partners, warehouse closures and market reaction
Shares dived almost 10% on Thursday morning and the stock is now down by more than a third in the past year after a series of disappointing announcements. last month that a Canadian partner would close a warehouse using its robots and automation technology; the partner, Sobeys, announced it would be shutting the Calgary facility, saying it was "largely due to the Alberta grocery e-commerce market’s size and the rate of expansion being slower than originally anticipated. " That decision followed the closure of three warehouses by a US partner, Kroger, which knocked almost a fifth off the company’s value.
What the business does and its global footprint
The retail technology business runs robotic warehouses for supermarket chains and supplies its proprietary software and robotics, known as the Ocado Smart Platform, to other companies to run delivery operations. The company currently has 30 operational sites around the world. Its UK retail arm is a joint venture with Marks & Spencer and reports separately from the technology business.
Other items in the supplied materials
A separate note in the materials carried only the heading "Client Challenge" with no further text. Another item included a website prompt asking readers to confirm they were not a robot, advising them to ensure their browser supports JavaScript and cookies and not to block them, directing readers to review Terms of Service and Cookie Policy for more information, and instructing that inquiries should include a reference ID to the support team; the prompt also promoted subscribing for global markets news.
The company has set out the restructuring and the target to cut about £150m in technology and support costs in 2026; it says it will support those affected through the process as it completes the merger of its technology divisions and scales back R& D.
