A number of jobs have been placed at risk at hundreds of Argos stores as part of plans to amalgamate roles and shrink down its team of 'middle managers'.
The chain - owned by Sainsbury's - told the Mirror its mid-way through a restructuring of its in-branch management roles.
Right now, Argos has up to six middle managers at each of its 830 stores, however there are plans to slash this to two.
This, bosses claim, will enable the company to create more defined senior positions and eliminate overlap.
It follows a huge integration project last year that introduced Argos into 281 Sainsbury's food stores.
The revamp will hit the group of bosses below each branch’s head chief and all staff affected have now been placed on consultation.
These employees currently perform a range of duties including customer service, managing stock and leading teams.
Argos told the Mirror that all workers affected are being considered for an updated management position, and that the company hopes to avoid compulsory layoffs by offering staff affected alternative roles within the business.
This could include office jobs, other in-store work or equivalent positions at Sainsbury’s.
However, it is feared hundreds will still be axed.
All workers affected are being invited to apply for the two new positions, and those who survive the cull could get more responsibility in new roles as trading and trading support managers.
It comes after Sainsbury's - which bought Argos in 2016 - made a controversial decision to axe legacy contracts last September, placing all workers on one-size-fits-all earnings.
It meant 9,000 employees would lose out under the plans to scrap paid breaks and axe Sunday 'premium' pay .
MPs and more than 100,000 people signed a petition to protect the workers - however the grocer refused to back down.
"We are proposing a more streamlined structure for our store management teams," an Argos spokeswoman told Mirror Money.
"This would create broader and more clearly defined management roles which allow us to better support our colleagues and better serve our customers.
"All affected colleagues are being considered for an updated management position. There will also be opportunities to redeploy to other roles within the Group."
