Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Whole Foods unit intends to dismiss “hundreds of corporate employees,” the e-commerce giant stated in a memo reported by Bloomberg yesterday. After greatly expanding its workforce during the pandemic, Amazon layoffs have affected roughly 27,000 of its employees this year.
Whole Foods’ job cuts will only impact administrative staff. None of the workers in its warehouses or stores are being let go. The layoffs will impact about 0.5% of its employees. Furthermore, the chain expects to still open roughly 30 additional stores annually.
Whole Foods intends “to reorganize certain global and regional support teams over the next two months,” CNBC reported. Additionally, in conjunction with the layoffs, the chain will drop to six regions from its current nine.
Amazon Layoffs Impact Grocery Strategy
In a letter earlier this month to the owners of AMZN stock, CEO Andy Jassy stated that the company was still looking to expand its grocery business. As a result, the conglomerate will look to increase the number of grocery stores that it owns and operates, he indicated.
But the CEO suggested that the company would seek to build or acquire grocery stores that are not affiliated with Whole Foods, writing that “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.”
AMZN stock is up 6% in the last month, and it has rallied 24% in 2023 in the wake of Amazon layoffs, but the shares are still down 28% in the last 12 months.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
