“It would mean more team on the store floor helping customers, ensuring the products they need are on the shelves, and improving our overall service and experience when they shop with us.”

But one Woolworths employee, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that under the proposal some managers could lose their positions, with their roles combined depending on the store size. In the employee’s store, they said, eight managers might be reduced to five.

Those workers in excess would have their positions essentially “downgraded” to a filler, with their hours capped at a maximum of 20 per week, they claimed.

The employee, who has been with Woolworths for nine years, works as a supervisor for 45 hours a week earning $28 an hour. Under the new proposal, they said, their role could be cut to 20 hours a week with their hourly wage cut to $26 an hour.

“I started here when I was 18, it’s been my whole life working here. They’re talking about voluntary redundancies and I’m more than likely going to have to take that.”

The employee said if there was such a significant reduction in pay, it would likely force them to move out of their rental property and back in with their parents.

“I can barely afford to live on what I’m living on. To have that cut in more than half my hours and $2 less an hour, it’s huge.”

First Union national retail secretary Rudd Hughes, who represents roughly 10,000 Woolworths workers, also said he was concerned about possible wage cuts.

“There will be people losing money. What we’re trying to do with the company is to what we call ‘grandparent’ those people on their current wage, so they don’t drop money.”

A Woolworths spokesperson couldn’t confirm whether pay would be affected for employees.

However, they said a trial of the proposed model showed more than half the trial team preferred it.

“We’ve trialled the proposed model in four of our stores for six months. During that time, we’ve taken on board feedback from our local customers, team and workers’ First Union,” they told the Herald.

“We’ve heard from customers that the proposed model means they’ve been able to get more of what they need in store, when they want it.

“We’ve learned along the way and made tweaks like adding an additional leader in some stores and distributing tasks more evenly across different store areas.”

The spokesperson said the proposed model would not result in a reduction of Woolworths New Zealand’s overall team size.

“We’ve also heard from our team that leadership opportunities in our stores aren’t as appealing as they could be, and our proposed model would include clearer career pathways and opportunities with $6.6 million invested in upskilling our team.”

Union calls for feedback

First Union’s Hughes said it was encouraging members to give feedback. He is suggesting Woolworths take written feedback on the proposal as it would give employees much more opportunity to think about what’s going on in the restructure and offer meaningful suggestions.

“It will affect a lot of people, even if they don’t lose jobs, and even if they work right across it, it will still change their jobs dramatically. And that’s a concern for people, people are anxious as hell.”

Woolworths said the proposal was still under review, with staff feedback being sought until March 24.

In the business’ latest financial result in the six months to January 5, Woolworths New Zealand’s total sales increased by 2.7% to $4.28 billion, up from $4.17b in the previous corresponding period.

Comparable sales also consistently grew, with first-half sales increasing by 3.3%, while Q2 sales increased by 3.2% due to strong e-commerce growth.

Woolworths NZ’s earnings before interest and tax (ebit) reported perhaps the largest growth in the half, up by 15.2% to $82m compared with $71m in 1H24.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business and retail.