The online grocer said it employed 18,869 people globally in its latest annual report, down from 19,744 the year prior.
A significant amount of the staff cuts were in relation to “headcount rationalisation” within its head office and support functions, helping cut costs by around £17m, the Times reported.
Other job cuts were the result of the closure of Ocado’s oldest warehouse in its network in Hatfield last April, which put 2,300 roles at risk, though the retailer said it redeployed half of that number to the new Luton site.
Orders handled at the warehouse were switched to the group’s other automated warehouses, including Luton, which uses automation and other technology so therefore requires fewer staff.
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Last year, Ocado said it would double the number of robotic arms in its warehouses in a bid to boost the speed of packing grocery orders.
Hannah Gibson, chief executive of Ocado Retail, said that the number of robots with arms at its warehouse in Luton, will double from 22 to 44 in “the very near future”.
She said: “This technology enables us to have a bigger choice…lower substitutions, and the operating model is more efficient than a store-based model,” she explained, adding that about half of the range in the warehouse will be handled by robotic arms “in the near term”.
Earlier this month, the retail and technology firm officially fell out of the FTSE 100, after 6 years on the list as its valuation fell from a £22bn high in the pandemic to £3.1bn.
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