The short answer
Kroger plans to eliminate about 3,000 corporate jobs over the next three years, according to an October 12, 2026 memo from CEO Greg Foran that Reuters saw and that Kroger shared with Grocery Dive. A Kroger representative confirmed the 3,000 figure to Newsweek. Reuters put the cut at roughly 37% of Kroger's about 8,200 corporate employees. This is a multi-year plan for office roles, not a single layoff day, and Kroger has not said which jobs go first.
What happened
Bloomberg News first reported the cuts on Monday, October 12, per Reuters. Foran announced the plan on a companywide call that day and in a memo to employees, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier as reported by Local 12 and Supermarket News. Grocery Dive said Kroger shared the memo with it directly. Reuters reported that details on the cuts would be shared in the coming months.
Who is affected
The cuts are corporate roles. Foran did not say which departments or roles will be affected, per Grocery Dive. The Cincinnati Business Courier reported that the cuts span multiple corporate functions and office locations and that corporate staffing would fall from about 8,200 to about 5,200, per Local 12 and Supermarket News. Kroger is headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, per Local 12. The corporate group is a small part of the company: Fortune reported that Kroger has about 409,000 employees across more than 2,700 stores.
When it takes effect
The plan runs over three years, per the memo as reported by Reuters and Grocery Dive. Decisions about affected roles will start being communicated in the coming months, per Grocery Dive, which also reported that Foran gave no specific layoff timeline.
What the company said
In the memo, Foran wrote that Kroger has "more layers, more handoffs and more overhead than we need," per Grocery Dive. He said technology would be used to reduce duplicative work and improve efficiency, that the changes would create broader roles and faster decisions, and that the money saved would go toward lower prices and investment in store associates, per Grocery Dive and Reuters. Fortune reported that the memo did not say how many roles AI would replace. Separately, on September 22, Kroger announced it was expanding its use of AI models and making AI training and tools available to more than 400,000 employees, per FOX Business.
Earlier cuts at Kroger
- August 2025: Interim CEO Ron Sargent told staff in a memo that Kroger was cutting corporate roles to simplify the company and move resources closer to customers, per Reuters, which reported on August 26, 2025. Bloomberg reported nearly 1,000 corporate workers were affected, and a person familiar with the reduction told Reuters the number was fewer than 1,000. Reuters' October 2026 report describes that round as about 1,000 corporate roles cut in June 2025, so the two Reuters reports date it differently.
- June 2025: Kroger said it would close about 60 underperforming stores over 18 months, per Reuters.
Questions people ask
How many jobs is Kroger cutting?
About 3,000 corporate jobs over three years, per the October 12, 2026 memo from CEO Greg Foran that Reuters saw and that Kroger shared with Grocery Dive. A Kroger representative confirmed the 3,000 figure to Newsweek, and Reuters said it equals roughly 37% of about 8,200 corporate employees.
Does this affect Kroger store workers?
The announced cuts are corporate roles, per Reuters and Grocery Dive. Kroger has about 409,000 employees in total across more than 2,700 stores, per Fortune, and Foran's memo said savings would go toward investment in store associates, per Grocery Dive.
When will Kroger employees find out?
Kroger said decisions about affected roles would start being communicated in the coming months, per Grocery Dive, and that the full plan runs over three years. Foran did not give a specific timeline, per Grocery Dive.
Which Kroger departments are affected?
Kroger has not said. Foran did not name departments or roles in the memo, per Grocery Dive, and the Cincinnati Business Courier reported only that the cuts span multiple corporate functions and office locations, per Supermarket News.