Working at Penny Market
Smiřice, Královéhradecký kraj · Retail distribution (distribution)
| Area | 25,000 m², capacity ~25,000 pallets |
| Opened | 30 October 2025 |
| Stores served | up to 90 in two regions |
| Staff | over 80 permanent |
| CO₂ reduction | over 1,000 tonnes a year |
| Delivery distance | average route cut by 6.5% |
About the plant
Penny Market's Smiřice centre is the newest facility in this catalogue, opened on 30 October 2025 on the edge of the town near the D11 motorway. It covers 25,000 m² — about three and a half football pitches — with capacity for roughly 25,000 pallets, built for a sum described only as 'hundreds of millions of koruna'.
It supplies up to 90 regional Penny stores across the Hradec Králové and Pardubice regions, including the Krkonoše and Jeseníky mountains and the northern Vysočina.
What it pays
Penny has not published pay figures for the Smiřice warehouse specifically. Chain-wide data is available for shop-floor roles only.
| Chain cashier base rate, Feb 2023 | 28,000 Kč |
| Warehouse pay at Smiřice | not published |
A collective agreement covering Penny Market was signed with the OSPZV-ASO and UZO unions in February 2023, but its terms are not public.
Working conditions
- Two-shift operation according to pre-opening reporting
- Specialised chilled conveyor for fresh meat and frozen goods
- Gravity racking system, the largest in the Penny network
- Photovoltaic plant with storage on site
- Collective agreement in force, renegotiated annually with OSPZV-ASO
Recent news
| 30 October 2025 | Centre opened with over 80 new jobs. |
| — | No labour disputes or inspection findings at Smiřice were found — the site is only months old. |
| — | Chain-wide employee reviews describe overtime running to 23:00, compulsory weekend shifts and understaffing, typically three people per shift Monday to Saturday and two on Sunday. These relate to Penny stores, not the warehouse. |
Can a foreign worker get in here?
Too new to have a hiring record. Over 80 permanent posts were created at opening, and a collective agreement is in force chain-wide. Whether the site recruits internationally is not yet documented either way.
No data yet — the site opened in late 2025. Worth revisiting in a year.
Getting there
Smiřice lies between Hradec Králové and Náchod, immediately off the D11 motorway. No shuttle service is publicly documented.
Where workers live
No data on worker accommodation or rents near Smiřice.
Our intake in this region
Open positions in Královéhradecký kraj. Not necessarily at this plant.
Frequently asked questions
Does Penny Market hire foreign workers?
Too new to have a hiring record. Over 80 permanent posts were created at opening, and a collective agreement is in force chain-wide. Whether the site recruits internationally is not yet documented either way.
What does it pay?
Penny has not published pay figures for the Smiřice warehouse specifically. Chain-wide data is available for shop-floor roles only. A collective agreement covering Penny Market was signed with the OSPZV-ASO and UZO unions in February 2023, but its terms are not public.
What are the shifts?
Two-shift operation according to pre-opening reporting Specialised chilled conveyor for fresh meat and frozen goods
Where would I live?
No data on worker accommodation or rents near Smiřice.
Can I apply directly instead of through an agency?
If you are already legally resident in Czechia, yes — apply on the company careers page. From outside the EU it is much harder, because a direct application rarely covers employee card sponsorship, and that is the part an agency arranges.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Where a fact could not be verified, we left it out rather than estimating.