Kroger laying off corporate employees, Albertsons downsizes Safeway workforce
Kroger is cutting about 200 employees across three office sites at its Cincinnati headquarters, according to a Cincinnati Business Courier report.
A Kroger spokesperson provided Drug Store News with the following statement, “As we continue delivering fresh, affordable food to our customers, we are focusing on key priority areas that support our go-to-market strategy. As part of this prioritization work, we announced team restructures and a small number of eliminated roles to improve efficiency.”
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The layoffs reportedly occurred the week of Feb. 3, and included staff working at its downtown Cincinnati headquarters, together with the 84.51 data compilation and analysis unit, and technology and digital team, per the report.
According to the report, the layoffs were unrelated to Kroger's failed merger with Albertsons last year.
Meanwhile, Albertsons is laying off more than 150 Safeway corporate workers in California, according to regulatory notices filed last month, per a Grocery Dive report.
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According to WARN notices filed Jan. 14, the company will eliminate 156 workers at a pair of offices in Pleasanton, Calif. The job cuts will go into effect on Feb. 22, the report said.
An Albertsons spokesperson provided DSN with the following statement: "Albertsons Companies, Inc. recently delivered solid third-quarter results in an increasingly competitive environment and our company is in strong financial condition. However, we cannot stand still and must constantly recalibrate our company to compete in a rapidly changing market.
Our strategy to win and earn Customers for Life includes finding new sources of productivity to enable us to invest in growth. After many years of productivity efforts across several parts of our company, we recently turned our attention to our general and administrative expenses and made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our corporate and division support workforce. No store-level associates were impacted.
This decision was not made lightly, and we appreciate the contributions of impacted associates. We are providing comprehensive support to all impacted associates, including severance packages with extended benefits, career support services, and additional resources during this transition."
