US supermarket chain Kroger Co. plans to eliminate approximately 3,000 corporate jobs, representing 37% of its corporate workforce, in one of the retailer’s largest rounds of job cuts on record.
The move comes as the company seeks to simplify operations, reduce overheads and redirect resources towards frontline employees, lower prices and customer experience.
The cuts were announced by Kroger chief executive officer Greg Foran in a memo viewed and reported by Bloomberg News.
The retailer, which has around 8,200 corporate employees, has not yet disclosed which roles will be affected, with further details expected in the coming months.
"Simplifying means making faster decisions and deploying more resources where they matter most," said Foran in the memo quoted by the news outlet.
Foran took over as Kroger’s CEO in February. He previously served as president and CEO of Walmart US from 2014 to 2019.
The latest restructuring forms part of a broader effort to streamline the retailer’s operations amid slowing growth, heightened competition and persistent inflation concerns.
Kroger targets corporate overheads
The planned job reductions reflect Kroger’s focus on removing duplicated work and reducing organisational layers.
According to Bloomberg, the company intends to redirect resources towards frontline employees, price reductions and improvements to the customer shopping experience.
The restructuring comes as retailers face pressure to manage costs while responding to changing consumer spending patterns and competition across the grocery sector.
Kroger has yet to provide a detailed breakdown of the roles or departments that will be affected by the planned reductions.
AI adoption shapes workforce strategy
The job cuts also come amid Kroger’s growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve operational efficiency and streamline workflows.
Yael Cosset, the company’s executive vice-president and chief digital officer, recently outlined Kroger’s AI strategy as progressing through three stages: assisted, augmented and autonomous.
"The goal is not autonomy everywhere," said Cosset in a separate announcement in September. The goal is using the right level of AI based on risk, repeatability and the need for human judgement. Different cases will sit at different stages, and strong governance remains at the centre."
While Kroger’s planned job cuts coincide with its expanding use of AI, the company has not explicitly attributed the announced reductions to the technology.
AI cited in US job cuts
The restructuring comes amid wider concerns about AI’s impact on employment in the US.
Data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas identified AI as the leading cited reason for job cuts across the country, accounting for 120,136 announced reductions, or approximately 21% of all job cuts recorded so far in 2026.
Kroger’s planned workforce reduction highlights the pressure on large retailers to simplify corporate structures, manage costs and reassess how technology can support business operations.