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Economy

Kroger will cut 3,000 corporate jobs as it leans on AI. That's 37% of its office staff.

CEO Greg Foran says Kroger has "more layers, more handoffs and more overhead than we need." The cuts roll out over three years.

Kroger will cut 3,000 corporate jobs as it leans on AI. That's 37% of its office staff.
Stock photo. Photo by kate.sade on Unsplash

One of the country's biggest private employers just put a number on what AI means for its office staff. Kroger plans to eliminate about 3,000 corporate jobs over the next three years as it expands its use of artificial intelligence, the Associated Press reported Oct. 13.

CEO Greg Foran announced the cuts in a memo to employees on Monday, Oct. 12. "Technology is reshaping what's possible," he wrote, according to the AP. He also wrote that Kroger "has more layers, more handoffs and more overhead than we need, so we are addressing this issue," Supermarket News reported. Reuters and Newsweek both put the cuts at about 37% of Kroger's roughly 8,200 corporate employees. Bloomberg News first reported the plan.

Who's on the list

Kroger hasn't said. Decisions about which roles go will be shared "in the coming months," according to the memo, and the cuts will span "multiple departments and multiple corporate office locations," the Cincinnati Business Courier reported. Newsweek reported that Kroger hasn't said how many of the jobs are in Ohio, where the company is based.

Foran, a former head of Walmart's U.S. business, became Kroger's CEO in February. Kroger runs more than 2,700 stores under names including Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith's and Fred Meyer, and employs about 409,000 people, according to the AP. Kroger outlined its AI strategy in September, including AI agents to help store teams prioritize tasks and AI training for more than 400,000 employees, The Next Web reported. This round follows about 1,000 corporate job cuts Kroger made last year, Reuters reported.

Foran says the savings will help lower prices and pay for more investment in store-level workers, according to Reuters. That's a promise workers and shoppers can hold the company to. The 3,000 people losing their jobs won't see any of it.

We found no public statement from the United Food and Commercial Workers, the union that represents many Kroger store employees, as of Sunday, Oct. 18. Kroger hasn't said whether it will file layoff notices under the federal WARN Act, and we found no report of one tied to these cuts.

What the WARN Act requires

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act says a covered employer (generally one with 100 or more full-time employees) must give 60 days' written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff (29 U.S.C. § 2102(a)). Notice goes to each affected worker (or their union), to the state, and to the local chief elected official.

A "mass layoff" is measured at a single site during any 30-day period. It means at least 500 job losses, or at least 50 job losses that equal at least 33% of the full-time workforce at that site (29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(3)). Smaller rounds at one site within any 90-day period can be added together, unless the employer shows they had separate and distinct causes (§ 2102(d)).

That's why a three-year rollout matters. If Kroger cuts in small waves spread across offices, some or all of them may never cross the threshold, and no federal notice would be required. If a big wave hits one office at once, it could. We don't know yet which it will be. An employer that skips required notice owes back pay and benefits for each day of the violation, up to 60 days (29 U.S.C. § 2104).

If your job could be next

Start with our guide to the warning signs of a layoff and how to prepare. Save your pay stubs, offer letter, reviews, and benefits summaries now, while you still have access.

"Employees leave thousands of dollars on the table when they don't negotiate severance," said Attorney Ryan Stygar, a California workers rights lawyer and WR.N contributor. "You may have claims worth much more than what the company is offering, and you want to be sure you understand the agreement they want you to sign. My advice is to get an experienced severance attorney involved early so you don't sell yourself short."

If you're handed a severance agreement, don't sign it on the spot. Workers 40 and older who are let go as part of a group layoff must get at least 45 days to consider a release of age discrimination claims and 7 days to revoke it after signing. The employer must also give you, in writing, the job titles and ages of the people selected for the layoff and of those in the same unit who weren't (29 U.S.C. § 626(f)). That list can show who the cuts really landed on. Read it before you sign, and get a lawyer to look at the offer if anything looks off.

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