The company I work for has been taken over and all salaried staff (general Manager, deputy and Head Chef ) have had to reapply for their positions but all hourly paid have not had to and just been TUPEied over.
The salaried staff will be on a different type of contract to the hourly paid staff. Salaried staff have to work a set number of hours with no extra pay for overtime. There will probably also be incentives in their contract such as bonus schemes & private health insurance. Also salaried staff will more than likely get paid monthly. Hourly paid will be paid for each hour they work and will probably be paid a week in arrears with no other benefits.
It may simply be that they need to retain the existing number of roles filled by salaried staff but they will require fewer staff in roles that are hourly paid