LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Whole Foods Markets Inc (O:WFM) said on Tuesday it will trim staff by 1,500 employees, or 1.6 percent, over the next eight weeks as it works to lower prices and better compete with other retailers that are making aggressive moves into the natural and organic niche it pioneered.
The Austin, Texas-based grocer, which is also investing in technology upgrades, said the cuts will be managed through natural attrition. It expects a "significant percentage" of affected workers to fill the nearly 2,000 open positions at the company or to find work in the more than 100 new stores in development.
"We believe this is an important step to evolve Whole Foods Market in a rapidly changing marketplace," Walter Robb, Whole Foods' co-chief executive, said in a statement.
The company, which is known for its generous pay and benefits, did not immediately say whether affected workers who take other jobs within the company would see their overall compensation slashed.
Whole Foods is planning to open a new chain of smaller markets that target younger and value-oriented shoppers. It is called "365 by Whole Foods Market" in a nod to its lower-cost private label brand. The company plans to open five 365 stores in the second half of 2016.
Whole Foods reported in July that same-store sales growth cooled again in the latest quarter, hurt by competition and a scandal over overcharging in its New York City stores.
At the end of the quarter, Whole Foods had total sales of $3.6 billion from its 422 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.