As Asda seeks 15,000 workers, Tesco looks to automation to solve the crisis in the labour market

Asda is embarking on a hiring spree, seeking to source 15,000 seasonal workers from a labour market experiencing record vacancies.

A tough ask, then. But achievable. These posts – mostly in store but it won’t surprise anyone to learn Asda is looking for extra delivery drivers, too – could be attractive to people such as students seeking extra cash out of term time and others looking for employment that is (relatively) flexible and temporary.

Thousands of people from the struggling arts and entertainment sector could be among them. UK Music says 69,000 people, including freelance musicians and those working in live music, have left the industry since the pandemic hit. Other parts of the sector have suffered similar depredations.

Among their number is mezzo-soprano Lara Rebekah Harvey. She had landed a role at Opera Holland Park but then the pandemic hit. She made ends meet by working for Lidl, one of Asda’s main rivals.

There must be many people like her who would welcome the extra cash that a similar job could provide, while still entertaining hopes of a return to their vocations if things pick up in the New Year.

So perhaps the company has good grounds for talking up its ability to find most, if not all, of the people it needs. And it is getting in commendably early. Just as we’re being told to shop for Christmas presents early, it is clearly prudent for grocers to start tapping the labour market ahead of time.

Seasonal workers may well find themselves spoiled for choice. It might be wise, if they can, to wait until later to see if they can secure a better deal for themselves. But a bird in the hand…

While all this goes on, Tesco has announced the launch of its first fully automated store. Pay attention to this. The format, branded GetGo, allows customers with the Tesco app to walk in, pick up their shopping, and walk straight out again.

A gimmick? One of those sci-fi-made real stories that isn’t all that significant?

Au contraire. While this sort of thing has fallen flat before, Tesco is following in the footsteps of Amazon, which has also been opening this sort of store. You can learn from experience, and from your competitors.

If this works, the rewards could be substantial. It’s a hard fact that if businesses are struggling to find the workers they need, and having to pay more for them, they will look at ways of making do with fewer of them.

You may remember that prior to the disruption created by the pandemic there was a rash of reports produced that talked about hundreds of thousands of jobs being at risk from the rise of robots. Here, potentially, is a sign of that in action.

The government’s sclerotic approach to the labour market’s issues, the way it has put success in playing the blame game above pragmatic policymaking, could be the catalyst for more of this.

We may yet see GetGo’s launch as the genesis of a sweeping job cull.

Asda told me it has no plans to launch this sort of format. Or, at least, no current plans. But I imagine that it will be watching the experiment carefully. So will Morrisons’ new owners. So will Sainsbury’s.

The new GetGo store can be found at High Holborn in London, a stone’s throw from Sainsbury’s HQ.

Most of the latter’s executives probably have the Tesco app downloaded for the purpose of keeping an eye on the competition. They could drop by and make use of it on their lunch breaks. The leaders of the other two, which are headquartered in the north, will have to rely on a trip to the capital to do the same. But that can easily be arranged.