Slovenia's biggest grocer, which was bought by Croatian rival Agrokor last year, said that most of the layoffs, coming as part of a long-term business restructuring strategy, involved back office jobs.

As part of the process, which is expected to be completed at the end of the autumn, Mercator will "strive to offer a different position within the company to these employees".

It moreover stressed that the business restructuring strategy had already been drawn up two years ago and that employment was a dynamic process in the retail sector.

There were for instance 1,127 cases of hiring and redeployment in Mercator in Slovenia in 2014, the company told the STA.