Tesco, H&M Respond to Cost Pressures

Brexit, increasing minimum wage and shoppers moving online, force European retailers to change course.

EUROPE- Two major European retailers, Tesco and H&M, are taking drastic measures in response to cost pressures in the increasingly tight global retail market.

Tesco has announced that it will cut 1,200 jobs at its headquarters in the U.K. and India, while H&M has scaled back its store-opening target and focusing on e-commerce.

Bloomberg reports that the Tesco job cuts are in response to increases in minimum wage levels and higher sourcing costs resulting from sterling’s depreciation since last year’s Brexit vote. 

Tesco said in a statement that the head-office cuts are “a significant next step to continue the turnaround of the business.” Shares in the grocer rose on news of the cutbacks.

Meanwhile fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz has unveiled plans to compensate for slowing sales and rising inventory by decreasing the number of new brick-and-mortar stores it will open and instead aiming for 25 percent growth in online sales annually.