Whole Foods Market Restructures

In late April, Whole Foods Market laid off hundreds of workers while restructuring the organization with a focus on streamlining regional operations. The chain will decrease its operating regions from nine to six and will further centralize some units within its operations division. Some store operations will switch from regional to “global”. The supply chain will now be 100% within Whole Foods Market’s global supply chain division. This change comes after the 2021 transition when they merged regional teams into the global support teams. “As the grocery industry continues to rapidly evolve, and as we, like all retailers, have navigated challenges like COVID-19 pandemic and continued economic uncertainty, it has become clear that we need to continue to build on these changes,” according to a recent memo. “With additional adjustments, we will be able to further simplify our operations, make processes easier, and improve how we support our stores”.  The Austin-based chain has 50 stores in development and according to some reports, another 100 in the pipeline. “We are confident these changes will allow us to better support our stores, team members, and suppliers, elevate the customer experience, and position Whole Foods for continued growth,” the company said.