Japanese 7-Eleven parent Seven & I Holdings is preparing to cut 3000 jobs in its 2022 fiscal year.

The move will be the firm’s largest payroll cut since it opened, and reflects increasing competition from e-commerce and shopping malls, as well as chronic shortages in labour. 

The firm is planning a structural reform initiative to rebuild customer support, including the shedding and downsizing of some of its less profitable Sogo, Seibu and Ito-Yokado branded stores.

“The stores we’re keeping have the ability to attract customers,” Seven & I president Ryuichi Isaka told Nikkei. “We’ll focus our investment there and do more to revitalise them.”