Lidl staff in line for €2,500 pay rise as retail giant announces plans for 700 jobs in Ireland
The announcements were made in Cork on Friday during a visit by Enterprise and Employment Minister Simon Coveney to Lidl's Carrigaline store. Mr Coveney is pictured with Lidl's chief people officer Maeve McCleane. Picture: Darragh Kane
Lidl workers are in line for a €2,500 pay rise as the company announced a €14m investment in pay and plans for 700 new jobs.
The discount retail giant said the pay rise investment package will make it “Ireland’s highest paying supermarket”, delivering an average 7.5% pay increase — which works out at between €2,000 and €2,500 per annum — for every Lidl worker in the Republic from March 1.
The announcements were made in Cork on Friday during a visit by Enterprise and Employment Minister Simon Coveney to Lidl's Carrigaline store.
“This is a real vote of confidence in the company’s long-term commitment to the Irish retail sector and the Irish economy as a whole,” Mr Coveney said.
“Given the current cost-of-living pressures that everyone is feeling, I’m delighted to see that Lidl is investing in giving their workforce a pay rise to support them.”
The new jobs will be in a variety of operational and office-based roles across Lidl's network of 176 stores, at its three regional distribution centres, and at its head office in Dublin.
They will support the company’s ongoing €550m three-year expansion plan, which was announced in 2021, which will see the opening of new stores in Kilkenny; Ballincollig, Co Cork; Bettystown and Limerick, and the completion of a €75m extension of its Mullingar distribution centre.
Once filled, the roles will bring Lidl’s total workforce in the Republic of Ireland to more than 6,000, and to 7,500 on the island of Ireland.
Lidl, which was the first nationwide retailer here to adopt the ‘living wage’ recommendation in 2015, also confirmed that the pay rise is in addition to its commitment last October to pay the new ‘living wage’ rate of €13.85 as recommended by the Living Wage Technical Group.
Lidl’s chief people officer Maeve McCleane said today is a proud moment for the company as it reaches the milestone of more than 6,000 employees in Ireland.
“After a rollercoaster few years for the Irish retail sector, we are thrilled to be able to continue to reward the hard work and dedication of our employees by investing €14m in pay rises,” she said.
“To recognise the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on our team members, we have significantly increased our investment in pay rises by 30% this year to support our employees as best we can, ensuring that we are offering the most competitive and all-encompassing suite of benefits in the jobs market at present.”
