Kroger's AI layoffs: what the cuts mean for corporate staff

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorKroger announced it's cutting three thousand corporate positions over the next three years, shifting more work to artificial intelligence.

2. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThree thousand people, and I should say, my cheer earlier was about the guest, not the layoffs, so let's be careful with the tone.

3. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorFair. The Hill reports the cuts are corporate jobs, the office side of the company, over the next three years.

4. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSo not the people at the register.

5. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorRight, the reports describe corporate employees, and the company says the goal is to streamline operations using AI.

6. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorStreamline. That's the word companies use when a person becomes a line item.

7. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe Associated Press runs the same core facts, so the numbers match: three thousand jobs, three years, AI.

8. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorHow did we get here? Is this new?

9. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorCompanies across many industries are putting AI into the back office. Kroger is one more large employer saying so out loud.

10. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorOut loud is new. Usually it's a memo with a lot of adjectives.

11. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWho's affected? Mostly the corporate staff, the people who plan, buy and manage behind the scenes at a grocery chain.

12. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThe person who picks the pasta sauce is now a spreadsheet?

13. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWe don't know which roles go first. The reports don't say, and it's not clear yet how the cuts will be spread.

14. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorA spreadsheet that has never eaten dinner choosing your sauce. I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm saying it's bold.

15. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorBold is one view. The company's view is that AI makes the business run leaner, and it's spreading the cuts over three years.

16. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd the other side?

17. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWorkers and labor watchers worry that three thousand paychecks vanish while the savings go to the company.

18. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThat argument isn't in today's reports, but it is the obvious one.

19. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorBoth sides can be true. Efficient for the company, scary for a person with a mortgage.

20. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWhat to watch: whether other chains announce the same, and whether Kroger says more about which jobs and which years.

21. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThree years is a long runway. Long enough to worry in every aisle.

22. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo, one more time: Kroger is cutting three thousand office jobs over three years, and AI is doing some of the work.

23. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd the software will never know the joy of a free sample, so I'd say we still have the edge.