In response to Sainsbury’s announcement, Downing Street said: “As we said at the Budget, difficult decisions were needed to restore economic stability, and put the public finances back on to a stable footing.”

Sainsbury’s recently reported strong Christmas trading and said it expected annual profits to surpass £1bn.

But when he unveiled the trading figures earlier this month, chief executive Simon Roberts repeated his warning about the impact of measures announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and said there would be “tough choices”.

Sainsbury’s has said the rise in employer’s NI contributions will cost it £140m from April.

The industry trade body, the British Retail Consortium, reckons higher costs for retailers will impact investment, jobs and lead to higher prices.

Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said the cuts by Sainsbury’s were “devastating but no surprise”, adding that the government should “undo its jobs tax”.

In the Budget, Reeves announced that the rate of National Insurance paid by employers would rise to 15% in April while the salary threshold at which payments begin would drop from £9,100 to £5,000.

The government expects the measure to raise £20bn.

Early last year, the previous Conservative government had made two cuts to National Insurance payments made by workers.