Albertsons Turns to Service Peers to Fill 30,000 Jobs

As it seeks 30,000 additional workers to meet emergency demand due to the coronavirus crisis, Albertsons Cos. has secured partnerships with 17 companies in hard-hit sectors of the service economy.

Those companies, which include restaurant, hospitality and entertainment firms, have established dedicated job application sites that will notify their furloughed workers of opportunities at Albertsons.

As previously reported, Aldi and McDonald's Germany have made a deal to temporarily reassign workers from the restaurant chain to staff stores and distribution centers in Germany.

“The most valuable asset and the core of any business is people, and we are working hard with many human resource teams across a variety of businesses who are actively defining next steps for their employees,” said Vivek Sankaran, president and CEO of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, said in a release. “So many businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors are scaling back hours or temporarily closing as their customers remain home and adhere to shelter-in-place orders. We are grateful to be a resource to help fill a critical need in our own business and take care of people who want to continue working during this time of national emergency.”

Supermarket companies are considered “critical infrastructure,” according to the U.S. government and are required to operate during the crisis. Albertsons said it “fully understands and appreciates that most people will return to their previous jobs when the crisis is over,” but said the company and partner employers are fully supportive of the other’s efforts to keep people working.

Currently, Albertsons Cos. has secured partnerships with 17 companies that have been forced to close or scale back operations, some of which include BJ’s Restaurants, Hilton, ASM Global, G6 Hospitality, Inspire Brands, Marriott International, MGM Resorts and Regal Cinemas.