Asda has cut nearly 7,500 jobs over the past year as the supermarket chain grapples with rising debt costs and declining market share. The grocer’s interest expenses on its debt increased by 20% to £730 million in 2025, up from £611 million the previous year, contributing to pretax losses approaching £1 billion. This surge in debt servicing follows the £7 billion acquisition of Asda by private equity firm TDR Capital in 2021.

The company’s workforce shrank by 7.5% during 2025, leaving around 91,400 employees amid a broad cost-cutting drive aimed at alleviating financial pressures linked to private equity ownership. Among the measures is the automation of the George clothing online operation, which will consolidate its fulfillment into a new site in Derby run by DHL. While approximately 250 staff will be transferred to the new logistics center, around 1,000 jobs are expected to be eliminated, largely replaced by automated systems.

These job reductions have drawn criticism from labor unions. GMB national officer Rachelle Wilkins described the replacement of jobs by robots as unsettling and expressed concern about potential future cuts in Asda’s online grocery fulfillment operations, warning that thousands of roles could be at risk.

Further workforce reductions stemmed from the aftermath of a problematic IT overhaul. Asda disclosed losses of £284 million linked to Project Future, a multi-year initiative to separate its IT systems from former parent Walmart, with the total cost of the transition now at £1.2 billion. Additionally, hundreds of employees were let go following the sale of the Leon fast-food chain back to its founder John Vincent last year. The sale led to the closure of 23 out of 68 UK Leon outlets, with the chain’s sales declining nearly 4% to £62.5 million and incurring pre-tax losses of £8 million in its final year under Asda ownership.

In an effort to stabilize the business, retail veteran Allan Leighton was appointed in 2024 to lead Asda’s turnaround, having previously helped rescue the company in the late 1990s. However, the retailer’s market share in the UK grocery sector has continued to decline, falling from 14.3% at the time of the TDR takeover to 11.5%—its lowest level in more than 30 years. Notably, Asda was the only major supermarket to register a sales decline during the UK’s record May heatwave and the initial weeks of the World Cup. Its market share now hovers close to that of Aldi, which holds 10.7%.

An Asda spokesman emphasized that the workforce reductions were primarily related to the completion of Project Future and the sale of Leon, rather than the company’s financing costs. The spokesman noted that Asda’s debt is largely secured well into the next decade, providing stability and visibility on interest expenses. The retailer also ended the year with £1.3 billion in cash and a total liquidity of £2.1 billion, reflecting what it described as a strong balance sheet.