Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based retail giant Amazon is restructuring its U.S. grocery operations, which will result in an unspecified number of layoffs.
More specifically, Amazon is restructuring its grocery and convenience store brands and laying off employees in its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go chains, the company told Supermarket News.
“We regularly review our team structures to ensure we’re best set up to serve customers. Following a recent review, we’ve identified a very small number of roles … that are no longer required,” an Amazon spokesperson said. "We’ve already notified employees whose roles are impacted, and we’re committed to supporting them through their transition.”
Amazon has been gradually pulling back from its Amazon Go grocery concept, which features cashierless, mostly automated brick-and-mortar stores.
To that end, the firm closed a store in Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A., at the end of February and three stores in New York City last fall. The company still operates Amazon Go locations in the U.S. states of California, Illinois, New York, and Washington.
Elsewhere, Leeds, U.K.-based grocery chain Asda is making more than 200 job cuts, following even larger layoffs announced last November.
Across the U.K., Asda is cutting more than 200 staff who were involved in a troubled IT upgrade for the firm, per Retail Systems, and also cut 13 regional managers following Asda’s “worst Christmas performance since 2015.”
This follows a move the firm made last fall that resulted in layoffs of 475 employees at its corporate offices in Leeds and Leicestershire.
Asda is one of many U.K. retailers conducting layoffs due to a challenging economic environment amid higher business taxes and inflation.
At the start of 2025, Sainsbury’s said it would cut 3,000 jobs and streamline divisions, resulting in a proposed 20 percent reduction of senior management positions. Morrisons also said it would slash 200 jobs after a review of its structure.
There have also been a wave of recent layoffs at major U.S. grocery chains, including Albertsons, Kroger, and Walmart, the latter of which is laying off or relocating more than 800 corporate employees.
