Whole Foods cuts hundreds of corporate jobs, employee memo shows

Whole Foods is eliminating several hundred corporate jobs over the next two months, the Amazon-owned grocer told employees in a memo on Thursday.

The cuts comes as the upscale market reorganizes its global and regional support teams from nine regions to six, according to the memo.

“As we simplify processes and improve how we operate, we will be able to quickly respond to evolving business needs, focus more on our most impactful work, and invest in new ways to serve all stakeholders,” the memo said.

Store and warehouse workers will not be part of the downsizing and no stores are closing, it added.

The layoffs will affect less than .5% of Whole Foods’ 105,000 employees, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

There are more than 500 stores and the company is still planning to open 50 more, according to the report.

Amazon slashed other parts of its grocery operation earlier this year.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy halted expansion plans of its Fresh supermarket chain, while also shuttering some Fresh locations and Go cashless stores. 

Austin, Tex.-based Whole Foods has also streamlined its operations – doing more purchasing as a block rather than separate regions and stores – since Amazon acquired it in 2017 for an eyepopping $13.7 billion.

As part of the shakeup, three regional presidents are leaving Whole Foods, a spokesperson told The Journal.

The company did not immediately respond for comment.

Whole Foods is the latest retailer to announce layoffs as companies brace for a feared recession and slower sales. 

Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, axed hundreds of corporate jobs, while McDonald’s fired hundreds of employees in its corporate offices, slashing pay and benefits for others and closed field offices as part of a reorganization 

In March, Amazon said it would lay off 9,000 workers just weeks after it had announced a massive 18,000 job cut.

Last fall, Amazon said it was shedding 6% of its 300,000 corporate workforce – the largest culling in its 30-year history.