Kroger To Lay Off 3,000 Employees As It Starts Using More AI

One American grocery store chain is leaning into AI.

Grocery store chain Kroger (which has 30 locations in Illinois and across 16 states) has announced it plans to lay off thousands of workers as it starts using artificial intelligence more.

Specifically, the chain said it will lay off 3,000 people within the next 3 years as the company starts using AI more. The memo from Kroger CEO Greg Foran (who is a former Walmart executive) to employees this week said:

Technology is reshaping what’s possible. The way work gets done is changing across every industry; we must adapt and take advantage of technology. We need to adopt capabilities, reduce duplicative work and look closely at where work is best fit to be done.

Kroger's AI strategy that the company said last month was "to improve the customer experience, make work easier for associates and produce better business outcomes".

Meanwhile, AI can't even spell 'strawberry' right but I digress.

Kroger is the largest standalone U.S. supermarket chain. It has 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores (it includes Ralphs, King Soopers, Mariano's and Fred Meyer).

CEO Foran has a reputation in the industry for being "tech-savvy". He led Walmart's U.S. division from 2014-2019 and introduced online ordering and pickup.

Kroger faces competition from Walmart, Amazon, and chains like Aldi. Kroger tried a merger with chain Albertson's in 2022 but the Federal Trade Commission and the states of Washington and Colorado managed to block the merger.

Tuesday, right after the memo from the CEO on Monday, Kroger shares went down 2.2%.

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