Kroger plans 3,000 corporate layoffs, biggest cuts in 143-year history under CEO Greg Foran

Kroger to cut roughly 3,000 corporate jobs in largest restructuring in 143 years

America’s oldest retail chain Kroger Co plans to eliminate roughly 3,000 corporate positions over the next three years, marking a sweeping workforce reduction as new Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran moves to overhaul the grocer’s management structure.

The cuts represent more than one-third of Kroger’s approximately 8,200 corporate staff, making the restructuring one of the largest corporate employee reductions in the supermarket chain’s 143-year history.

Foran’s turnaround memo

Foran, a former Walmart executive who joined the retailer in February this year, detailed the turnaround strategy in a memo to employees following a companywide meeting on Monday, October 12. The memo was obtained by the Business Courier.

In the note, Foran wrote:

“As a company, we have made great progress on many fronts with our customers. We started reducing prices and improving our customer experience in stores and online, and we made investments in simplifying our associates’ lives through technology,”

He added:

“Our business is becoming leaner, more focused and more competitive. We are working to be more agile; more precise in our execution; and deliver benefits to our customers, associates and our shareholders.”

The Cincinnati-based grocery giant announced the layoffs to employees during the all-company call on October 12. Foran said the changes are intended to reduce duplicative work, lower prices and redirect investment toward store employees as the grocer integrates artificial intelligence into workflows.

Why now

The restructuring comes as America’s largest traditional grocer contends with slowing top-line growth, fierce retail competition, and persistent inflationary pressures impacting consumer spending.

The memo outlined plans to eliminate redundant functions across departments while modernizing daily operations. Kroger is increasingly turning to emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to automate workflows and drive efficiencies across its corporate network.

Kroger expects to start sharing details about the affected roles in the coming months. The reductions will help the company put more resources toward cutting prices, improving shopping experience and investing in frontline employees, Foran wrote.

Foran, who helped turn around Walmart’s US business in the mid- to late 2010s, is implementing Kroger’s biggest price cuts in years, while making service in stores friendlier and faster. The operator of Fred Meyer and Ralphs chains is also taking a more aggressive approach toward supplier negotiations.

The company laid off nearly 1,000 corporate employees last year to cut costs. The three-year downsizing marks the latest decisive shift under Foran’s leadership as Kroger works to defend its market share against deep-discount rivals and major big-box retailers.

Parallel legal pressure

The layoffs come at the same time rival grocery chain Albertsons Cos is demanding that Kroger Co pay more than $9 billion for the collapse of the largest US grocery chain merger in history. Albertsons claims Kroger "willfully breached" its contractual commitments and should pay more than $9.3 billion, including a premium stockholders would have gotten and a $600 million termination fee.