Open menu

Everyone different, everyone welcome

At Aldi, we’re proud of the positive impact we have made since we opened our first UK store over 30 years ago. We have lowered the cost of groceries for millions of customers, created thousands of jobs, supported British suppliers and invested in local communities.

Aldi is a company built on merit and opportunity. Our growth means that we can provide career opportunities for everyone, whatever their background and wherever they work in our business. We recognise the importance of diversity and inclusion and understand that Aldi needs to better reflect all of the communities we serve, as well as providing more support to minority and under-represented groups.

We want to ensure that Aldi is a diverse, inclusive and supportive place to work for everyone.  That’s why we are currently making positive changes to the way we attract, recruit and support our people.

In early 2021, we introduced a new strategy called Embrace to help us on our journey.  Embrace is built on five strategic pillars:

1. Employee Engagement and Support

2. Employee Insights and Data

3. Partnerships and External Engagement

4. Employer Branding and Attraction and Selection

5. Learning, Development and Awareness Raising

Our current initiatives

Here are some of the actions we are already taking to create an inclusive workplace:

Holding on tight to D&I

  • 1

  • 2

  • 3

  • 4

  • 5

Diversity strengthens us

Diversity and inclusion has never been more important to Aldi. So we’ve been taking the time to understand how Aldi can make positive changes from within to ensure we reflect the communities we serve. To demonstrate our commitment, we now want to formally introduce our strategy, Embrace.

Embrace means creating positive changes from the inside out so that Aldi lives diversity and inclusion. There are five key pillars to our strategy, including; Employee Engagement and Support, Employee Insights and Data, Partnerships and External Engagement, Employer Branding, Attraction and Selection as well as Learning, Development and Awareness Raising.

But we didn’t do it alone, #TeamAldi have contributed in many different ways and continue to do so. Some have offered their time, whilst others have shared their thoughts and opinions to help us progress our journey. We’re working towards making the workplace more inclusive for our people, all while supporting our communities. We’re on a journey and we’re excited to continue our work, ensuring our culture is inclusive and respectful for all.

Listening to #TeamAldi

When you listen, you learn. One of our Embrace pillars is ‘Employee Insights and Data’. It outlines what we’ve planned to make sure our work environments are inclusive and respectful.

That’s why, in 2021, we established confidential groups where #TeamAldi shared their lived experiences. The groups help us to learn more about colleagues’ perceptions, views and challenges. Hearing their stories directly means we have a better understanding of the positive changes we can make to ensure Aldi lives diversity and inclusion.

As well as groups, we’ve launched an Embrace survey for the whole of #TeamAldi. We want to know if people feel they can be themselves at work, and that they’re being treated equally. And we’re learning all the time.

Working together to make our workplace diverse and inclusive

One of the great things about inclusion is that nobody feels they have to go it alone. So, as part of our ‘Partnerships and External Engagement’ pillar, we’ve been looking outside for partnerships and schemes that can help us make Embrace work. We are committed to learning from other businesses to make sure we’re taking the right steps for our colleagues.

  • In 2020, we appointed diversity and inclusion specialist Green Park to advise our team on the best approach for Aldi
  • Our long-standing partnership with IGD will help us create our first Schools Partnership Programme to promote apprenticeships and social mobility
  • In 2021, we signed the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles to drive gender equality across our business, suppliers and the wider community

The BRC Better Jobs Charter saw us agree to a number of diversity and inclusion pledges including:

  • Appointing Diversity and Inclusion Executive
  • Improving recruitment practices to remove bias
  • Supporting career opportunity and progression for all
  • Collecting and contributing data on diversity
  • Creating a respectful and inclusive work environment
  • Ensuring all line managers are responsible for supporting equity in the workplace

We also work alongside Business Disability Forum and the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme to inform how we can better support our colleagues and customers with different abilities in the future.

Finding and developing talent

In an inclusive environment, there’s space for great people to do great things. And building an equitable process helps us attract those people wherever they are.

As part of our ‘Learning, Development and Awareness Raising’ pillar, we’ve taken away all barriers to internal promotion. High performers can go onwards and upwards. We’re focusing our Apprenticeship strategy on social mobility and D&I too. That will apply to our School Partnership Programme and also to our Career Starter Programmes, where there’s no longer any need for educational qualifications.

Training helps talent stay informed and relevant, and we love helping make that happen. We offered a Diversity, Inclusion and Sexual Harassment E-module in 2020, and in 2022 launched a Disability Awareness module. Plus we’re providing diversity and inclusion training for Executive Managers and above, so that they can understand what it means for them and their teams.

Another key pillar is ‘Employer Branding, Attraction and Selection’. We’ve reviewed our selection process, ensuring that equal opportunities are offered throughout. We’re also working with specialist partner Diversifying Group, who are helping us to build a diverse talent pipeline for the future.

Always there for #TeamAldi

We want to make D&I an everyday reality for everyone, in every single part of the business. That means finding ways to support #TeamAldi, and encouraging our people to support each other.

In 2021 we developed a menopause support guide for colleagues which will answer a lot of questions. In 2021 we asked colleagues about the D&I commitments they’re going to make as a team. We’ve developed support guides for colleagues and leaders on menopause and gender transition, providing support, guidance and information on how to navigate these big life changes.

We’re all here together, and we’re all keen to make D&I work for our business and communities. And we’ll look after each other while we make sure that happens.

What diversity means to us

Aldi is an equal opportunities employer. We’re committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. And we’re dedicated to promoting a culture of inclusion, and providing an environment in which collaboration, respect and fairness are essential.

We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any colleague or job applicant on the grounds of sex, race, ethnic origin, disability, age, gender nonconformity, marital or civil partner status, sexual orientation, religion or belief, being pregnant or on maternity leave. It means that Aldi offers equal treatment and equal opportunities to all employees and job applicants.

To view our full Equal Opportunities statement, please click here.

Meet #TeamAldi

Yaseen Mohammed
Yaseen Mohammed
Dave O’Keeffe
Dave O’Keeffe
Wayne Taylor
Wayne Taylor
Yaseen Mohammed
Everyone’s got the space to be themselves.
Yaseen Mohammed , Manager

As someone who’s all about family and food, Yas was always meant to be an Aldi person. Other than ordering a takeaway on a Sunday, one of his favourite things to do is tick off a list. And with three children and a few promotions under his belt, he’s ticked off some huge milestones. Being able to speak up really helped Yas to settle in. When Yas pointed out that he was booking meeting rooms so that he could pray, we created two new quiet rooms for everyone to use. He’s always looking to improve things – just like us. Yas says he feels lucky working at such a rewarding and liberating place. But we feel so lucky to have him.

Read more
Dave O’Keeffe
You don’t have to travel far to be celebrated.
Dave O’Keeffe, Specialist NIT

Dave’s amazing. When he’s not getting hands-on with tech, he’s volunteering for a charity called WorldSkills. He even goes as far as Russia and Abu Dhabi to help out. But Dave’s also gone on a personal journey. After coming out in a few different workplaces, he knows how important it is to just be himself. So, when Dave was chatting to his manager and he asked whether he had ‘a girlfriend - or a boyfriend?’, Dave instantly relaxed. He really feels valued. But we think it’s the least we can do for someone as incredible as Dave. 

Read more
Wayne Taylor
The landscape is always changing for the better.
Wayne Taylor, Analyst

After almost ten years of working here, Wayne’s a real Aldi person. And he loves how some things haven’t changed in that time. Like how we’re still about finding the right people, with the right mindset. But as keen gardener, Wayne also loves how we’ve grown. In fact, it’s our investment that means he’s taken on two new roles in the past year. And, just like his seven-year-son Nathaniel, we’re always getting bigger and more ambitious. Wayne loves that we give everyone the tools to thrive, but we love nurturing #TeamAldi. We can’t wait to see Wayne achieve even more and celebrate another 10 years at Aldi.

Read more

Mental health support

We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health. With one in four people experiencing a mental health problem at some stage during their lives, many of us at #TeamAldi are likely to be impacted at some point. Our people are central to our ethos at Aldi; that’s why we’re sharing our commitment to continue to invest in improving how we look after colleagues’ mental health.

We’re proud of our wellbeing provision, which supports colleagues across five key areas of ‘MyWellness’ – one of which is mental health. Our mental health strategy is underpinned by three layers of support for #TeamAldi:

The MyALDI App

We want to give our people the very best support – no matter where they are. We created the MyALDI app for all our colleagues, giving everyone access to the same platform as soon as they join Team Aldi. 

MyALDI is a place for colleagues to share their stories and recognise one another for the amazing work they do. It highlights business news, upcoming charity events and provides access to pay slips as well as information about benefits.

Plus, there’s information and contact details for all of our professional partners who are specialists in our five key areas of wellness: mental, nutritional, financial, physical and social. For each area of Wellness, we regularly post useful links, articles and advice which is then available to all of our colleagues, 24 hours a day.

Empowering you from day one

You’ll get more than amazing benefits and development when you join #TeamAldi. And you’ll get more than great support during the recruitment process. Here are some handy hints and tips to help you in the first steps of your application.