Kmart invites redundant Birkenhead The Warehouse workers to join its stores

Thursday, 11 June 2020

More than 1000 jobs could be cut at The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery and Noel Leeming, as the Warehouse Group looks to close some of its stores.

Kmart has invited workers made redundant by The Warehouse to join their team.

On the Kmart recruiting page, the company has set up a specific portal for workers made redundant after The Warehouse decided to close its Birkenhead store.

Kmart said it was looking for workers for customer service roles, back of house and inventory replenishment positions.

The company said it was sad to hear of the Birkenhead store's closing, and was willing to look at ways it could accommodate experienced retailers into Kmart.

Kmart has offered jobs opportunities to workers made redundant by The Warehouse.

* Staff at The Warehouse Birkenhead told store will close next month

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'At Kmart, we are always on the lookout for like-minded people with a passion for retail and offering our community the highest level of customer service,' a spokeswoman said.

'The team will be reviewing the details of anyone that shares an expression of interest to roles within the Kmart business.'

On June 5, 17 full-time and 23 part-time employees at The Warehouse in Birkenhead were told the store would close on July 18.

Three days later, The Warehouse Group announced it was looking to axe up to 1080 jobs as part of a major company restructure.

The Warehouse said it was launching the consultation process looking at the closures of the Noel Leeming Henderson Clearance Centre, the Tokoroa store, The Warehouse Whangaparaoa, Johnsonville and Dunedin central stores and Warehouse Stationery Te Awamutu store, in addition to the Birkenhead closure.

Across the group, which included The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery and Torpedo7, the company had nearly 260 stores and employed about 12,000 staff.

On June 9, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she' was 'angry' at The Warehouse Group for proposing to cut up to 1080 jobs.

Ardern said the Kiwi retailer had traded on an image of being 'for the community', yet was proposing to cut jobs as other businesses worked hard to keep staff on.

This is not the first time Kmart has offered job opportunities to staff from The Warehouse.

In 2017, Kmart prioritised 60 positions for former Warehouse staff in the South Island.