Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) will shrink its corporate ranks by roughly 3,000 jobs over three years, a reduction of more than one-third.
CEO Greg Foran told employees about the plan on a companywide call Monday, October 12, and followed with a memo saying the reductions will reach multiple functions. The corporate staff of about 8,200 would fall to roughly 5,200, a drop of about 37%.
Foran wrote that Kroger has “more layers, more handoffs and more overhead than we need.” He said the company will use technology to cut duplicative work and move resources closer to customers to lower prices. Kroger will start notifying affected employees over the next several months, though Foran gave no timeline for the layoffs and did not say which departments face cuts.
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Kroger is expanding its use of AI while it trims its full-year identical sales goal and says it is cutting prices to take on Walmart (Nasdaq: WMT) and Aldi. Kroger outlined its AI strategy on September 22, and Chief Digital Officer Yael Cosset said AI will not replace the in-store connection between customers and employees.
Related: CEOs Drop the Euphemisms: AI Is Now Openly Cited as the Reason for Mass Tech Layoffs
Kroger named Foran CEO in February after the chief executive’s seat stayed vacant for nearly a year. He previously ran Walmart’s US business and Air New Zealand.
Kroger cut nearly 1,000 corporate jobs on August 26, 2025, under then-interim CEO Ron Sargent, after earlier reductions in February and March of that year. Kroger had delayed major cost cuts for nearly three years while it pursued a merger with Albertsons (NYSE: ACI).
A federal judge blocked that deal in December 2024, and the two grocers go to trial on October 19 in Delaware, where Albertsons is pursuing $8 billion or more from Kroger.
