Coles employs 7000 people in two weeks, further 5000 needed

Applications fast-tracked to support demand in supermarkets and liquor stores

28 March 2020

Coles has recruited more than 7000 people in just two weeks to meet customer demand, providing much-needed employment opportunities at a time when many Australians are urgently seeking work.

The new recruits have been fast-tracked into Coles’ supermarkets and liquor stores across Australia and have come from a wide range of industries and businesses, including many that have been forced to close or to stand down staff such as in travel, sport, fitness and hospitality.

Among the thousands of newly-hired Coles team members are Sydney resident and international flight attendant Jenny Dunworth, Victorian resident and former YMCA employee Zoe Giagoudakis, Gold Coast barista Emma Vost and Hobart gym owner Nick Richards.



Coles has now extended the recruitment drive by opening an additional 5000 positions across the country. These roles include store team members to serve customers and replenish shelves in Coles supermarkets and liquor stores, Customer Service Agents to deliver orders to Coles online customers, and more than 100 trade-qualified bakers for our in-store bakeries.

Coles CEO Steven Cain said Coles was delighted with the response to the recruitment callout and will continue to work with other major employers and unions to find job opportunities for businesses that were recently forced to reduce team numbers.

“Coles is doing everything we can to support jobs and the economy through this challenging time, while also ensuring we can provide groceries for all Australians,” he said.

“We have been overwhelmed with the number of applications received from across different industries. To ensure we could act quickly, we streamlined our recruitment processes and assigned a dedicated team to fast track applications sent by corporate partners like Australian Venue Company and Virgin Australia. We have seen a lot of demand for roles, and where we have positions available, we are making sure that we can get people into them as quickly as possible.

“Within the last week we have also opened three new pop-up distribution centres in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria which has created more jobs in our supply chain network. We are also looking to open additional distribution centres to help us move more stock to stores and will help create even more jobs.”

Since the recruitment drive began, Coles has offered more than 6500 casual positions to applicants, as well as 430 part-time and 80 full-time management positions across the country.

By State, Coles has offered 1700 jobs in Victoria, 2000 in New South Wales, around 1800 in Queensland, 600 in South Australia, 700 in Western Australian, 100 in Tasmania, around 90 in ACT and 100 in the Northern Territory.

For information about roles offered at Coles, visit www.colescareers.com.auOpens in new window .

For further information, please contact Coles Media Line (03) 9829 5250 or media.relations@coles.com.au