As Jubilant FoodWorks cuts costs, staff strength per Domino's store falls

The food service operator has consistently brought down its per-store headcount at Domino's

The country's largest food service operator Jubilant FoodWorks, which runs Domino's and Dunkin' Donuts outlets, is consistently bringing down staff strength per store as the focus on cost optimisation grows.

In the last five quarters, Jubilant FoodWorks has reduced Domino's per-store headcount to 21 (in Q1FY18) from 23 in Q1FY17. In Q4FY17, Domino's per-store headcount was 22.

The management, in a recent analyst call, indicated that attention to every line item in its profit & loss statement including employees costs would remain the as the focus on profitability grew. Per-store headcount then is likely to fall further as the company looks to increase productivity.

"Every single line item of our cost is being looked at very closely for identifying productivity," Pratik Pota, CEO, Jubilant FoodWorks said. "We are looking at utilities, manpower and labour, raw materials and packaging material. The results of these would be evident through quarter three and quarter four," he added.

In FY17, Jubilant FoodWorks cut total employee strength by 1,115 across 1,117 Domino's and 63 Dunkin' Donuts stores. This was the first time in six years that the company reduced employee strength.

Domino's is expected to add 40 to 50 stores in the current financial year, the company had said during the recent analyst call, lower from the 100 to 150 stores it added in previous years.

"Despite a 7 per cent increase in store days, our manpower cost has reduced by 1 per cent and this will progressively play out in our P&L from next quarter onwards," Pota said.