Last updated on June 13th, 2024 at 05:14 pm
Whole Foods Market plans to eliminate 1,500 positions as part of a commitment to invest in technology and to lower product prices in the store.
In a company statement, Whole Foods said, “As part of its ongoing commitment to lower prices for its customers and invest in technology upgrades while improving its cost structure, Whole Foods Market will reduce a number of positions over the next eight weeks.”
The company estimates the net reduction to be approximately 1,500 jobs, which represents 1.6 percent of its workforce. It anticipates many of the reductions to be managed through natural attrition and expects a significant percentage of affected employees to find other jobs from the nearly 2,000 open positions across the company or via new jobs created from the more than 100 new stores under development. Whole Foods Market noted that it added more than 9,000 new jobs in the past year and created nearly 35,000 over the past five years.
“This is a very difficult decision, and we are committed to treating affected team members in a caring and respectful manner. We have offered them several options, including transition pay, a generous severance or the opportunity to apply for other jobs. In addition, we will pay these team members in full over the next eight weeks as they decide which option to choose,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. “We believe this is an important step to evolve Whole Foods Market in a rapidly changing marketplace.”
