Discount Retailer Chain giants Mercadona, Lidl, and Aldi are famous for driving the massive growth of private-label (MDD) products in Spain, their impact goes far beyond the grocery aisles. The stellar business performance of these three formats over the last five years has triggered a massive hiring boom, resulting in 18,400 new jobs between 2021 and 2025.
Job Creation: Double-Digit Workforce Growth
According to data compiled by infoRETAIL, all three chains achieved double-digit workforce growth over the five-year period ending in 2025:
Mercadona: The Juan Roig-led supermarket giant added 14,200 new contracts, bringing its total Spanish workforce to 107,500 employees (a 15.2% increase since 2021).
Lidl: Driven by aggressive expansion, the Claus Grande-led chain grew its team by 12.6%, adding 2,200 workers to reach a total workforce of nearly 20,000 (up from 17,500 in 2021).
Aldi: Led by Valentín Lumbreras, Aldi saw the most dramatic percentage growth. The discounter boosted its workforce by 33.3% by adding 2,000 new employees, closing 2025 with a team of 8,000.
Financial Performance: Rocketing Revenues
This aggressive hiring is backed by phenomenal sales growth across the board between 2021 and 2025:
Retailer
2021 Revenue
2025 Revenue
Cumulative Growth
Mercadona
€25,516 M
€39,766 M
+55.8%
Lidl
€5,144 M
€6,952 M
+35.1%
Aldi
€1,486 M
€2,078 M*
+39.8%
> Note: Aldi’s data reflects its latest official Mercantile Registry filings from the 2024 financial year.
Employment Elasticity: Sales vs. Hiring
Analyzing the relationship between revenue growth and job creation reveals how efficiently each company scales its human resources relative to its financial success (known as the employment elasticity coefficient).
What the Coefficient Means: A higher coefficient indicates that a company hires more aggressively for every euro it brings in. For instance, a 0.10 coefficient means a 10% sales jump yields a 1% increase in staff.
Aldi (0.84): The most labor-intensive growth model. For every 10% increase in sales, Aldi expands its structural workforce by 8.4%.
Lidl (0.36): Sits firmly in the middle, balancing automated efficiency with frontline expansion.
Mercadona (0.27): The most efficient scaling model. Despite its massive total hiring volume, its highly optimized operations mean workforce size grows by just 2.7% for every 10% surge in revenue.
Job Creation: Double-Digit Workforce Growth
Financial Performance: Rocketing Revenues
Retailer
2021 Revenue
2025 Revenue
Cumulative Growth
Mercadona
Lidl
Aldi
Employment Elasticity: Sales vs. Hiring
Mercadona, Lidl and Aldi, beyond the MDD: they create almost 20,000 jobs in five years
Mercadona, Lidl and Aldi, beyond the MDD: they create almost 2