Laois supermarket starts shopping early for Christmas for staff

The competition for staff in the buoyant jobs market appears to have be influencing Aldi to start planning early for the Christmas shopping rush.

The German-owned chain is creating 13 jobs in its stores in Laois as part of a national campaign to recruit 340 new team members between now and the busy Christmas period.

The company which claims to best-paying supermarket, which now operates 160 stores in the country, including three in Laois, currently employs 4,650 people nationwide.

Aldi has shops Portlaoise, Portarlington and Graiguecullen.  

Aldi recruitment is currently underway and Aldi  says it is keen to fill all positions as soon as possible as the company continues to open new stores and sees an increase in customer demand across its existing store network, while the retailer prepares for the busy Christmas period.

It says vacancies include both roles at new stores and filling existing vacancies.

Commenting, Brian O’Shea, HR Director at ALDI Ireland, said:

“ALDI has continued to grow in 2023 and to invest in new stores, and now we’re looking for hundreds more colleagues to join our incredible teams across the country ahead of Christmas, including 13 new jobs in County Laois.

“Working at ALDI means a great working environment and real opportunities to progress within the business and we look forward to welcoming even more people to be a part of our team and our success in the future,” said Mr O'Shea.

The new recruits will join the 4,650-strong ALDI team in Ireland and will benefit from a competitive package including market leading pay, access to dedicated employee benefits and wellbeing supports, in addition to career progression opportunities.

The chain could be getting in early on recruitment for Christmas due to the high employment figures in Laois and the rest of Ireland.

The number of people signing on at social welfare offices in Laois has dropped by nearly 6,000 since the trough of the Celtic Tiger recession according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). 

The latest CSO Labour Market survey shows that an estimated 2,643,000 persons were in employment to the end of July 2023 across Ireland. That is up 3.5% or 88,400 from 2,554,600 in Q2 2022.

Laois signing on number tumbles but insignificant Midlands jobs growth in booming year everywhere else

Interested applicants can apply for open vacancies through www.aldirecruitment.ie.