DUBLIN, Feb 12, 2026, 22:48 GMT
- Musgrave has put as many as 82 jobs in finance and HR on the chopping block across Dublin, Cork and Belfast.
- The company is lining up Infosys for support operations and has started a staff consultation process.
- Margins are getting squeezed as grocers contend with higher costs, while shoppers stay sensitive to prices.
Musgrave, which owns SuperValu and Centra in Ireland, announced Thursday that as many as 82 back-office positions in finance and HR could be cut. These are non-store support jobs. The shakeup, involving Infosys, hits staff based in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast. Musgrave said they’ve started consultations on the proposal.
Food retailers in Ireland are getting squeezed by higher costs and consumers pushing back on price hikes. Musgrave’s latest 2024 accounts show turnover reached 5.2 billion euros, with pretax profit up 5% at 134.5 million euros, although the company flagged a tougher opening to 2025. Grocery inflation ran close to 7% in the 12 weeks ending January, and SuperValu’s market share sits a touch below 20%, trailing Dunnes Stores and Tesco.
Belt-tightening and fierce rivalry don’t leave much slack. Companies usually start eyeing the back office when it’s time to make cuts.
Musgrave said it’s talking directly with the staff affected, emphasizing this decision “in no way a reflection on the commitment or professionalism” of those staff members. The company added that a consultation process is in progress — these formal talks could potentially change or mitigate some of the planned redundancies. echo live
Most of the cuts are coming from group-level roles, primarily within human resources and finance. Musgrave says it’s aiming for greater efficiency, but insists it’s still putting money into its brands and the communities it serves.
Musgrave, based in Cork, has about 12,000 employees throughout Ireland, the company says. It operates 19 retail and wholesale brands—among them Daybreak convenience stores, Donnybrook Fair, and Frank and Honest coffee.
This latest announcement lands just weeks after Musgrave revealed plans to shut its Donnybrook Fair location in Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin, putting 23 jobs on the line. Musgrave picked up the Donnybrook Fair chain in 2018, paying up to 25 million euros for the deal.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central, described the announcement as “very upsetting and worrying” for staff, urging Musgrave to sit down with unions and state agencies. He’s also reached out to the company for further details. TheJournal.ie
The final job cut tally remains uncertain. Transfers or voluntary departures during the consultation could reduce redundancies, but if negotiations break down and the cost-saving targets don’t budge, forced layoffs are still on the table.
Infosys and Musgrave already have a deal in place: Back in January 2024, Infosys announced a seven-year agreement aimed at automating Musgrave’s IT operations with AI and cloud tech. Musgrave’s Chief Technology Officer Stephen McKenna said the partnership should help “deliver innovative solutions” for customers and retail partners. Infosys executive Karmesh Vaswani described the company as “thrilled to embark on this transformative journey” with Musgrave. infosys.com
