Whole Foods announced Monday that it plans to cut 1,500 jobs—or about 1.6 per cent of its workforce—over the next two months. The grocery chain announced Monday that this decision is a direct result of its strategy to lower prices for customers.
“We believe this is an important step to evolve Whole Foods Market in a rapidly changing marketplace,” says co-CEO Walter Robb, who also notes that the job cuts will allow the company to focus more on upgrading its technology.
These cuts follow Whole Foods’ addition of more than 9,000 jobs in the past year. Currently, it has about 91,000 employees and 431 stores across the U.S., U.K., and Canada.
The company expects “a significant percentage” of employees being let go to find other jobs among Whole Foods’ open positions, including those available at more than 100 of its new stores.
