Whole Foods is planning to lay off several hundred corporate workers as it reorganizes, reports The Wall Street Journal. The intention of the restructuring is to simplify its operations, according to the grocer.
Laid-off employees were informed Thursday, according to the report. The memo said that the Amazon-owned grocer will operate across six regions, down from its current presence in nine. No stores or facilities are closing currently. Among those laid off are three regional presidents.
According to a spokesperson, positions in-store and at distribution centers will be unaffected. The cuts will impact roughly 105,000 people.
The news comes in the wake of a recent statement by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy indicating the company is restructuring its entire grocery strategy, including Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go. He shared the following about the supermarket chain: “Whole Foods is on an encouraging path, but to have a larger impact on physical grocery, we must find a mass grocery format that we believe is worth expanding broadly.”
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