Kroger announces corporate layoffs, structural changes

• Kroger announced Tuesday layoffs of fewer than 1,000 corporate staffers, a company spokesperson confirmed via email. These reductions are part of structural changes to its administrative teams across the U.S., interim CEO Ron Sargent said in an internal company memo.
• Sargent said these changes aim to simplify the organization and refocus priorities that directly help the company “run great stores.”
• This announcement marks the latest in a string of cost-cutting measures Kroger is enacting to improve performance, including its announcement earlier this summer that it plans to close approximately 60 stores.

Kroger’s latest round of corporate job cuts marks at least the third round of layoffs at the company within the past eight months, indicating the company is working to rebound following its failed merger attempt with Albertsons.

Kroger plans to reinvest the savings that will come from these recent layoffs into lowering prices, adding hours for its store teams and bulking up its real estate capabilities, Sargent said in the memo.

“In the past few months, we have all looked for ways to simplify the organization, shift resources closer to our customers, and focus on work that creates the most value,” he wrote, adding that the company has updated its priorities and halted select projects that don’t directly benefit Kroger customers.

Based on more than a dozen LinkedIn posts on Tuesday, a sizable number of layoffs impacted employees in Kroger’s Technology & Digital division. One employee from the division who was laid off today said in a phone call with Grocery Dive that he was surprised by the move, stating that Kroger’s most recent quarterly earnings showed positive results in the company’s e-commerce and digital model.

This round of layoffs did not include any in-store, manufacturing facility or distribution center staffers, according to a company spokesperson.

Kroger is looking for ways to cut costs and improve performance after spending nearly three years holding off on major cuts as it attempted to merge with Albertsons. In June, the grocer announced plans to close around 60 underperforming stores by the end of 2026, complete 30 store projects throughout this year and speed up new store openings next year. So far, Kroger has put at least 39 stores on the chopping block, with at least 18 having already shuttered.

As part of bolstering its go-to-market strategy, Kroger confirmed in March that it had cut jobs at its retail analytics subsidiary 84.51°. These layoffs followed Kroger’s disclosure a month prior that it eliminated corporate roles.