Asda mulls outsourcing as IT upgrade costs top £1bn

Asda is considering moving some of its jobs overseas in the latest round of cuts from the supermarket.

The retailer has entered into consultation with staff that could see 26 jobs made redundant across its customer service team and shifted overseas, The Telegraph reported.

It is understood that staff in Asda’s social media department, who are responsible for responding to questions from unhappy shoppers online, will be impacted.

An Asda spokesman told the publication: “As more customers choose to engage with us in different ways, we are proposing to make some changes to our online customer services team to support this changing dynamic.

“We have opened a consultation with a small number of colleagues affected should this proposal go ahead, and our priority is to do all we can to support them during this process.”

It follows reports that the supermarket’s IT upgrade will surpass £1bn in costs this year as it races to separate its technology systems from that of former majority owner Walmart.

The retailer is set to invest an additional £175m as it nears completion of its Project Future transformation, having already spent £900m since 2021, The Times reported.

The supermarket’s large-scale transformation was launched after it was bought by private equity firm TDR Capital alongside the Issa Brother in a £6.8bn leveraged buyout.

Asda avoided a multimillion-pound fine earlier this year after Walmart agreed to extend its February 2025 deadline for the project.

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