Britain’s leading supermarkets have been accused of misleading planning authorities by claiming to create tens of thousands of jobs when actually they employ fewer workers than they did two years ago.
Tesco and J Sainsbury have made extravagant claims about the number of jobs they create in order to convince local authorities to permit new stores.
Analysis of their annual reports, however, reveals that the combined net headcount for the two chains has fallen. Tesco said in its 2008-09 annual report that it would create 11,000 jobs that year. However, the 2009-10 annual report shows that Tesco’s British workforce increased from only 286,394 to 287,669 — a net gain of 1,305.
Tesco’s job creation claim relates only to new staff employed and does not include