Workers at
"There's a lot of open positions out there and there's not enough workers to fill them," Metro president and CEO
"
He added that Metro currently has "more open positions" than usual but declined to provide an exact number of vacancies across the company's warehouses and stores, which include conventional supermarkets like Metro and Metro Plus, discount grocery chains Super C in
La Flèche's comments came as the retailer reported a third-quarter profit of
The profit amounted to
Sales totalled
On an adjusted basis, Metro said it earned
The grocer warned that ongoing inflationary pressures and labour shortages could begin to weigh on margins.
"If this high inflationary, high price environment continues it will continue to put pressure on margin," Metro chief financial officer
For now, strong margins in the company's pharmacy division made up for a decline in food gross margin, he said.
"We had very strong front-store sales in our pharmacy business at Jean Coutu and Brunet in the quarter," La Flèche said. "Over-the-counter cough and cold products are flying."
Meanwhile, inflation continued to shape consumer habits during the company's third quarter.
Shoppers increasingly opted for discount grocery stores, switched to cheaper house brands and sought out cheaper protein choices.
"We saw the shift from conventional to discount (stores) accelerate when compared to the previous quarter," La Flèche said.
"We also saw a shift to private labels (and) trading down on proteins ... there's a shift for sure to value."
The price of food purchased at stores increased 9.4 per cent in June,
Metro also said it expects same-store food sales to grow at a higher rate than in recent quarters and for growth in prescriptions on the pharmacy side of the business to moderate.
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