Australian retailer Woolworths Ltd is to create more than 7,000 jobs in the second half of the financial year in part through new store openings.
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The announcement today (27 February) follows the creation of 9,000 jobs in the last half driven by the opening of two new distribution centres that created 800 new positions.
Woolworths MD Michael Luscombe said: “We see our role as generating economic activity and jobs. We think it’s an absolute tragedy when anyone loses their job let alone the numbers we have seen this week.
“The retail sector employs 15% of the Australian working population with a flow on effect to suppliers, manufacturers and others. We have already seen 43,000 jobs lost to the sector and we need to continue to support it.”
Woolworths said the bulk of the jobs would be created by opening new stores around the country, growth in existing stores and store refurbishments.
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By GlobalDataThe company, meanwhile, missed first-half profit forecasts as its earnings were dragged down by its New Zealand and consumer electronics businesses.
The company posted first-half net income of A$983.3m (US$631.3m), compared to A$634m in the previous year, but missed analyst forecasts of A$1.001bn. Net sales increased 8.8% to reach A$26.1bn.
