Asda is currently in discussions with 4,100 store managers after announcing a major restructuring plan which will see department manager roles being scrapped in some stores and be replaced by more section leaders.

Asda has been working with its stores to look at other ways of getting more staff on to the shop floor to help grow areas such as home shopping and e-commerce.

The supermarket said a number of options had already been successfully tested in 20 of its stores over the last six months, which had resulted in a proposed new structure for stores. The new structure consists of removing some existing department manager roles and creating new deputy manager, trading manager and section manager roles. Section leader positions will then be created to increase the number of staff on the shop floor. Asda said the plans will create a net benefit of around 900 new roles.

Asda chief operations officer Mark Ibbotson said the new structure “would be a more accurate reflection of the roles that staff were now being asked to do”.

He added: “The only constant in retail is change – and whilst people will always be at the heart of our business, the jobs we were asking our colleagues to do five years ago – when we just operated shops and had a small home shopping business – are not the jobs they are actually doing today, and not the jobs we need to empower them to do over the next five years if we are to continue to grow and deliver our strategy for growth.”