More than 10,000 managers at supermarket chain Asda will not receive a bonus this year after its market share has shrunk.
Asda had its worst Christmas performance in 10 years, while its market share shrunk from 13.7% to 12.6%. It is due to release its annual report at the end of this month.
Around 10% of Asda employees received a bonus last year, but reports in The Telegraph suggest that the usual annual bonus given out to senior staff in the first three months of the year will not be awarded.
The supermarket’s bonus scheme typically covers around 10% of its 134,500 employees, equating to approximately 14,000 workers.
One former senior employee told the paper that morale would be “rock bottom,” and warned that some managers could look for new opportunities elsewhere.
A recruiter suggested that missing out on bonuses could lead to “anarchy” within the company, according to the report.
Last month, Asda workers advanced to the final stage of their equal pay claim, when a tribunal found that 12 out of 14 female claimants could fairly compare their work with that of male workers in distribution centres.
Asda has publicly cited financial pressures in the past as a reason for resisting these claims. The final compensation value of the claim, if successful, could be as much as £1.2 billion.
The supermarket appointed a new executive chairman, Allan Leighton, in November 2024. Leighton was on the executive team at Asda in the 1990s and was credited with turning it around prior to its sale to Walmart.
Moshin Issa stepped down from the CEO role in September, and the supermarket is still looking for a chief executive. Asda was acquired by the billionaire Issa brothers in 2021 alongside private equity firm TDR Capital.
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