Migros to present plan merging its ten regional cooperatives, with up to 3,000 jobs at risk

A short-notice press conference in Bern

Migros has invited media to a press conference on Monday, 26 October 2026, starting at 10:45 in Bern, and the invitation does not name a topic. Blick reports that the invitation went out at 7:40 and that the event takes place at the Welle 7 venue near Bern station rather than at the group's Zurich headquarters. A spokeswoman told swissinfo that a press release will be published at the same time as the conference. The timing draws attention because the group's large annual gathering of around 400 senior managers is set for Tuesday, 27 October, at the StageOne venue in Zurich-Oerlikon.

Reported plan to merge the cooperatives

The SonntagsZeitung reported that the ten regional cooperatives, Migros Supermarché AG and the federation of Migros cooperatives would merge into one cooperative. Under the plan, Migros Supermarché would remain as an operating subsidiary organised into six regions, and the group would simplify a governance structure that sources describe as complex. According to 20 Minuten, citing the SonntagsZeitung, board chair Ursula Nold and CEO Mario Irminger are expected to present the project. Each regional cooperative would have to hold a member ballot in which two-thirds approval is required. Blick puts the membership at 2.3 million cooperative members, who would have the final say if the change goes ahead.

Up to 3,000 jobs and 300 to 400 million francs

Reports put the number of jobs at risk at about 3,000, mostly in central administration according to 20 Minuten. Estimated savings are 300 to 400 million francs a year, and NZZ links them partly to job cuts in the administration of the regions. The regional cooperatives and Migros Supermarché together employ close to 40,000 people, including store staff, and the store staff are expected to be largely spared. Migros is also reported to plan new stores and upgrades to existing outlets, so customers are expected to notice little change.

2024 restructuring (jobs cut)1,500

Reported 2026 plan (about 3,000 at risk)3,000

2024 restructuring (jobs cut)

1500 jobs

Reported 2026 plan (about 3,000 at risk)

3000 jobs

Data from the article text

A restructuring already under way

Migros began a restructuring in 2024 that cut roughly 1,500 jobs out of nearly 99,000 at the time, and it dropped chains judged insufficiently profitable, including Mibelle, Hotelplan, Micasa, SportX and OBI. In mid-October, Germany's competition office cleared Rewe's purchase of 38 supermarkets from Migros subsidiary Tegut, a step in the group's withdrawal from German retail. In Switzerland, Migros is considering closing its Centrale Traiteur at Ecublens in the canton of Vaud at the end of 2027, which would put about 57 jobs at risk. Core business revenue fell 1.9% in 2025 to 31.9 billion francs, which the company attributed to price cuts of about 500 million francs.

What the plan means next

NZZ recalls that the delegates' assembly, the Migros parliament, approved the Vision 2035 strategy paper in November 2025, laying the basis for dissolving the regional cooperatives. Whether any merger happens depends on member ballots in all ten regional cooperatives, each needing a two-thirds majority. The Monday press conference is expected to set out the structure in detail, which the reports have not yet done. Nothing has been decided, and the sources describe the merger as a plan rather than a decision.