France: Workers at retail giant Carrefour protest job cuts

Workers at retail giant Carrefour are protesting at hypermarkets across France over mass job cuts.

Unions staged a protest Thursday in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, marching through the aisles with red flags as shoppers pushed carts past their banners. It's part of a string of Carrefour demonstrations around the country this month.

Europe's biggest retailer, Carrefour announced last month that it will invest 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion) over the next five years in online shopping and cut 2,400 jobs. CEO Alexandre Bompard wants more investment in e-commerce to compete with Amazon.

The job cuts will come through voluntary departures.

Other big French companies are also shedding staff, notably using new laws pushed by President Emmanuel Macron to make it easier for companies to hire and fire.