By Matteo Castia

Tesco PLC said Tuesday that it has hired 2,500 new drivers and 5,000 new pickers this week in an effort to man up its expanding home delivery and click-and-collect services, as online demand keeps rising amid consumers' concerns over the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

"Covid-19 has led to unprecedented levels of demand for grocery shopping services," Chief Executive Dave Lewis said.

Earlier this month, the U.K.'s largest grocer by market share had launched a campaign to recruit 20,000 new staff to increase its headcount and better navigate the pandemic.

"In the last 10 days, more than 35,000 new colleagues have joined Tesco to support our stores. The response to our call for new recruits has been incredible," Tesco said.

Shares at 1225 GMT were down 8.7 pence, or 3.7%, at 224.4 pence.

Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2020 08:46 ET (12:46 GMT)

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