Aldi announces 450 new jobs as it expands store network

PAMELA NEWENHAM

Aldi is is to create 450 new jobs this year, as it expands its store network throughout the country.

The company is looking to recruit area managers, store managers, assistant store managers and store assistants.

“We expect to build further on the sustained growth we have achieved in the last few years, opening a further seven stores and hiring an additional 450 employees in 2014,” Niall O’Connor, managing director, Aldi Mitchelstown region said.

He said the financial and benefits packages on offer were extremely competitive, with average hourly rates some 30 per cent above the industry norm.

“We also have one the highest staff satisfaction and retention rates in the industry, with many of our team still with us from our earliest days in Ireland,” he added.

Successful store manager candidates will receive a starting annual salary of €50,000 rising to €69,000 over four years for a five day 45-hour week. They will also receive five weeks’ paid holidays, private health insurance upon commencement and membership of a company pension scheme after three years.

Successful area manager candidates will receive starting salary of €61,000 rising to €92,000 over four years plus a fully expensed Audi A4.

Aldi, which has an 8 per cent share of the Irish grocery market, employs approximately 2,400 people in Ireland.

According to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, the 12-week period ending April 27th saw an €18 million rise in sales. This is the first growth seen in the Irish supermarket sector in six months.

Aldi’s group buying director Rob Farrell said the company had heavily invested in its product range and its Irish sourced products, tripling its annual spend on Irish goods over the past five years.