SHOP workers were last night facing uncertain futures after a supermarket revealed an overhaul expected to put thousands of jobs at risk.

Sainsbury’s is in talks with staff over plans to slash in-store management positions.

The supermarket, which runs scores of stores across the North-East, said the move will help marketplace challenges, adding its “intention is not to reduce overall headcount”.

However, The Northern Echo understands affected workers will be given the choice of applying for new roles, further down the payroll, or face redundancy consultation.

The planned changes come in the same week Tesco announced it was axing 1,700 shop floor posts to cut costs, while Asda previously confirmed its intention to shed hundreds of workers.

Simon Roberts, the supermarket’s retail and operations director, said the operator is seeking to stabilise its position, having come up against a price war that has engulfed a sector already hurting from inflationary pressures and diminished consumer spending power.

He added: "We're proposing a store management structure that will deliver best-in-class leadership and, in many cases, will offer an improved reward package for new management roles.

"The proposals will introduce a more efficient and effective structure, designed to meet the challenges of today's retail environment.

"They will deliver cost savings to be invested in our customer offer and in our colleagues as they continue to provide the very best service for our customers."

Late last year, Sainsbury’s announced it was axing 2,000 jobs, mainly from human resources and payroll staff, adding to 1,000 head office job cuts in August, as part of efforts to cut another £500m of costs.

Earlier this month, the chain warned of a challenging market amid weaker sales at Argos, which it bought in 2016.