Kroger plans to lay off 3,000 corporate employees over the next three years as it expands its use of artificial intelligence, putting workers under a corporate plan to streamline operations. The company’s leadership says technology is changing how work gets done. For employees facing job cuts, the decision comes from the top. They can't decide the plan.
The bosses’ plan for work
CEO Greg Foran laid out the company’s reasoning in a memo to employees on Monday. “Technology is reshaping what's possible,” he wrote. “The way work gets done is changing across every industry; we must adapt and take advantage of technology. We need to adopt capabilities, reduce duplicative work and look closely at where work is best fit to be done.” The language is managerial and tidy; the announced result is 3,000 fewer corporate jobs. That's the bottom line.
Kroger outlined an artificial-intelligence strategy last month. The company said it intended “to improve the customer experience, make work easier for associates and produce better business outcomes.” The layoff plan sits alongside those stated aims: Kroger is expanding the technology while also reducing its corporate workforce. The announcement doesn't specify which roles the company will eliminate or how it will distribute the cuts.
Kroger is the largest standalone U.S. supermarket chain, with 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores. Its brands include Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith's and Fred Meyer. Those figures describe a vast company; the 3,000 employees facing cuts make up a small fraction of its total workforce, but the company plans to remove their corporate jobs. It's a small share of the workforce.
Competition from above and below
Kroger faces pressure from several directions. Walmart has become a larger challenge to Kroger and other traditional grocers as Americans increasingly pick up groceries alongside other general goods sold by Walmart. Fast-growing discount chains Aldi and Lidl, along with online behemoths such as Amazon, have added to the pressure. Kroger is responding to that crowded market with a corporate restructuring built around AI and fewer jobs.
Foran became Kroger CEO in February, 11 months after the company’s previous CEO abruptly resigned. Kroger named the former Walmart executive to the role. Foran led Walmart’s U.S. division from 2014 to 2019, focusing on cleaning up stores, keeping items in stock and improving the fresh produce selection. He also introduced online ordering and pickup and accelerated Walmart’s digital capabilities. Now the executive who led those changes at Walmart is overseeing Kroger’s effort to adopt more technology and cut corporate positions. He's now leading those cuts.
A merger blocked, a bill still disputed
Kroger proposed a merger with Albertsons in 2022 to compete more effectively with rivals. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission and Washington and Colorado sued to block the deal, arguing it would raise prices and lower workers’ wages by eliminating competition. Judges ultimately ruled that the merger should not proceed. The proposed corporate consolidation failed; the competition Kroger says it faces remains part of the company’s explanation for its next moves.
A day after the merger collapsed, Albertsons sued Kroger, seeking a $600 million termination fee as well as billions of dollars in legal fees and lost shareholder value. Kroger called the claims “baseless” and said Albertsons wasn't entitled to the fee. The companies’ competing claims over money and shareholder value are now public, while Kroger’s planned job cuts remain the concrete change it has announced for its workforce.
Kroger shares fell 1.6% in morning trading Tuesday, to $61.66. The company has announced a three-year plan to cut 3,000 corporate jobs as it expands AI; the announcement gives no account of a worker-led response or any alternative proposed by employees.