Kroger, the parent company of Hillsboro's two Fred Meyer stores, plans to eliminate 3,000 corporate jobs over the next three years as it expands its use of artificial intelligence.

CEO Greg Foran disclosed the cuts in an internal memo to employees Monday, Oct. 12, first reported by the Associated Press via KOIN. The reductions target corporate positions, not frontline store workers such as cashiers and stockers.

For Hillsboro shoppers who rely on the two local Fred Meyer locations, the immediate effect is unclear. Kroger has not identified which departments or geographic locations will see cuts. The company said it will share details about affected roles in the coming months.

The 3,000 positions represent about 37% of Kroger's roughly 8,200 corporate employees. The Cincinnati-based company is the largest standalone U.S. supermarket chain, with 409,000 total employees and more than 2,700 stores operating under brands including Fred Meyer, Ralphs, King Soopers and Smith's.

"Technology is reshaping what's possible. … The way work gets done is changing across every industry; we must adapt and take advantage of technology," Foran wrote in the memo.

The layoffs are not Kroger's first round of corporate cuts. The company eliminated about 1,000 corporate positions in August 2025.

AI strategy outlined at September conference

Kroger presented its artificial intelligence strategy Sept. 22 at the GroceryShop 2026 conference. The plan includes AI-powered demand forecasting, personalized shopping tools and an AI assistant that helps customers plan meals and build grocery lists based on their budgets.

The company said it is making AI training and tools available to its more than 400,000 employees, according to Fox Business.

Foran, a former Walmart executive who took over as Kroger's CEO in February, said the restructuring aims to redirect savings toward lower grocery prices and investments in store employees. He led Walmart's U.S. division from 2014 to 2019, where he introduced online ordering and pickup.

OPB also reported on the announcement's connection to Oregon through the Fred Meyer brand.

Sales growth slows amid competition

Kroger faces growing competition from Walmart, discount chains Aldi and Lidl, and Amazon. A proposed 2022 merger with Albertsons collapsed after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and two states sued to block it. Judges ruled the deal should not proceed, and Albertsons later sued Kroger seeking a $600 million termination fee.

The company's sales growth has slowed. Kroger reported identical sales growth of just 0.2%, excluding fuel, in its second-quarter earnings report released Sept. 11, down from 3.4% in the same period a year earlier. The company also narrowed its full-year same-store sales forecast to a range of 0.2% to 0.8%, down from a prior range of 1% to 2%, according to Quartz.

Kroger shares fell 1.6% to $61.66 in morning trading Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Kroger is scheduled to hold an investor update Oct. 20, where executives will discuss broader strategy and longer-term financial targets.