Tesco is getting rid of contract cleaners in nearly 2,000 stores with their duties, including washing windows and floors, being transferred to store staff. Starting on 24 August staff working in 1,920 of Tesco’s smaller Metro and Express supermarkets will have to take on new tasks, such as cleaning floors and windows as well as the shelves and fridges. They will also have to start cleaning their own break rooms and toilets. The move is a surprise at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has made high hygiene standards a top priority for retailers. Tesco said the cleanliness of its stores had “never been more important” and store budgets would be increased to give employees the additional time needed to complete cleaning tasks. It said a trial already carried out by the company had resulted in better and more consistent standards of cleanliness. While non-food retailers, who were forced to close their doors during the lockdown period, are struggling for business, the supermarkets have been the big winners as Britons were forced to eat all their meals at home. Last month Tesco revealed soaring sales during the lockdown, with sales at established UK stores up 8.7% in the three months to 30 May. Sales of food increased by 12%. The sales bonanza enjoyed by the supermarket made Tesco’s decision to pay a £635m dividend to shareholders earlier this year a controversial one. Critics argued that the largesse was misplaced given it had accepted a business rates holiday worth £585m from the government’s emergency coronavirus support package. In another misstep, last month Tesco suffered one of the biggest ever shareholder revolts over executive pay after the outgoing chief executive Dave Lewis banked £6.42m last year. In his six years at the grocer he has received £29m. Shareholders objected to a late change to part of an executive pay plan, which handed an additional £1.6m to Lewis and £900,000 to finance director Alan Stewart. The change involved removing online grocer Ocado from the group which Tesco’s share performance was being measured against. With Ocado included the two men would not have qualified for the extra payout. One Tesco employee said having to do all the cleaning would be a “psychological blow” for an already overstretched workforce. “Like it or not there is still a stigma around being a cleaner. It’s a big ask when you have been busting a gut on the checkout or filling shelves to have to do this as well. If a store is not doing well then overtime gets cut and people end up being quite stretched. The danger is staff will not have enough time to clean properly.” One insider told the Guardian that staff felt “stabbed in the back” after working flat out to keep shelves full for shoppers during the lockdown. “Tesco are trying to cut costs and it stinks,” they said. Tesco staff are being promised training on how to perform their new tasks. The company will still use contract cleaners for specialist tasks such as cleaning external signage, pressure washing and removing graffiti. In a statement Tesco said: “Currently we use third-party suppliers for cleaning. Following a successful trial, we have found that giving our stores more ownership and control over their cleaning results in better and more consistent standards. We will now roll this out to all our Express stores and convenience Metro stores.”