French retail giant Carrefour could announce this week that it is cutting 500 to 600 jobs in the country, according to several unions in the country, as new Carrefour chief executive Georges Plassat looks to reduce costs.

Serge Corfa of the CFDT union told Reuters that 500-600 jobs could be cut at the group's French headquarters, coming to just under 10 per cent of staff, while Force Ouvriere union representative Dejan Terglav said that up to 1,000 jobs could eventually go.

A Carrefour spokesperson said that the group had called a meeting with worker representatives for Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Corfa also indicated that there was concern for workers at Carrefour's hypermarkets, where job cuts could impact on 3,000-5,000 employees.