The distributor Auchan announced this Tuesday that it wanted to cut 2,389 jobs in France. Figures even higher than what the unions feared. The northern group, which is part of the Mulliez galaxy, convened this Tuesday morning the social and economic committees of several of its entities in different locations in the Lille metropolis. He presented them “a plan to return to growth“.
In detail, Auchan plans to eliminate 784 positions within its headquarters and 915 positions in stores. It provides for the cessation of direct home delivery activity which would result in 224 job cuts. And it plans to close around ten unprofitable points of sale (466 positions eliminated), including three hypermarkets in Clermont-Ferrand Nord (Puy-de-Dôme), Woippy (Moselle) and Bar-le-Duc (Meuse), and in a supermarket, in Aurillac (Cantal). Auchan today employs 54,000 people in France.
Significant difficulties
The northern giant is experiencing great difficulties. “Since 2012, Auchan has suffered a constant decline in store traffic and a deterioration in its results”indicates the group in its press release.
Auchan Retail had already announced in September 2020 the elimination of 1,475 positions in France, after a voluntary departure plan of more than 500 positions in January of the same year. The group's holding company announced a net loss of almost one billion euros over the first six months of 2024.
In France, Auchan is the fifth distributor with just over 9% of the market, far from the leading trio E.Leclerc (24.1%), Carrefour (21.4%) and Mousquetaires/Intermarché (17.4%) and behind Coopérative U (12.2%), according to the Kantar institute.
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