Staff Reporter
Kroger Co. has confirmed plans to lay off approximately 200 corporate employees across three office locations at its Cincinnati headquarters. This decision was reported by the Cincinnati Business Courier.
Kroger spokesperson Erin Rolfes stated that while the company is making these layoffs, specific details regarding the restructuring remain undisclosed.
Rolfes emphasized, “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.”
According to unnamed sources within the company, Kroger’s job cuts were driven by a shift in project priorities, leading to the reduction of several hundred positions. The layoffs, which occurred last week, affected employees at the downtown Cincinnati headquarters, as well as those in Kroger’s 84.51 data analytics unit and the Kroger Technology & Digital team.
Notably, Kroger has not filed any notices under the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which mandates such filings if a company with a workforce of this size lays off over 500 employees at a single location.
Sources indicated that these layoffs are unrelated to Kroger’s unsuccessful merger with Albertsons last year. This news comes on the heels of Albertsons announcing its own job cuts, planning to reduce costs by $1.5 billion over the next three years. Albertsons is set to lay off nearly 400 corporate employees on February 22, with cuts affecting 225 positions in Phoenix and 156 across two locations in Pleasanton, California.
