Musgrave Group, which encompasses SuperValu, Centra and other retail brands has announced that it will hire hundreds of new staff on a temporary basis.

This, according to the company, is in response to increased demand it is seeing across its retail stores around the country.

The major food retail, wholesale and food-service company is primarily recruiting people with experience in retail, fresh food, hospitality, driving and warehousing.

The retailer has reportedly reached out to representative groups of businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19, such as the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Irish Hotels Federation.

Musgrave Group has asked that any businesses that have been forced to temporarily lay off staff, with expertise in these areas, to contact its HR team.

Musgrave Group has indicated that it may hire more temporary staff if the Covid-19 crisis continues for the medium to long-term.

“We are doing all that we can, in the safest way that we can, to support communities across Ireland during this difficult time,” said Musgrave chief executive Noel Keeley.

There has been a huge increase in demand across our network for the past week and a half and we expect to see increased footfall for an extended period now.

“To meet this level of demand, we need to increase our team numbers and ensure we have enough people to allow our current staff get time to rest,” he continued.

“We’re working closely with different representative bodies to prioritise those in the restaurant, food and retail sectors who were among the first to lose their jobs because of Covid-19.”