“我们公司的层级、交接和开销都超过了我们实际需要的程度，所以我们正在解决这个问题。”克罗格首席执行官格雷格·福兰在10月12日星期一给员工的备忘录中这样写道。这家美国连锁超市将在未来三年内裁减约3000个企业岗位。它将依靠技术来简化工作方式。克罗格将该备忘录分享给了《商业内幕》。
“Our company has more layers, more handoffs and more overhead than we need, so we are addressing this issue.”Kroger chief executive Greg Foran wrote this in a memo to staff on Monday, 12 October. The US supermarket chain will cut about 3,000 corporate roles over the next three years. It is leaning on technology to simplify how it works. Kroger shared the memo with Business Insider.
克罗格向《商业内幕》透露，裁减的岗位约占其8200名企业员工的37%。福兰在备忘录中写道，关于哪些岗位将被裁减的决定将在“未来几个月”开始传达。
The cuts amount to about 37% of Kroger’s 8,200 corporate employees, the company told Business Insider. Decisions about which roles go will start being communicated “in the coming months”, Foran wrote.
“技术正在重塑可能的边界”福兰给出裁员的两个原因。第一个是简化，实现更快的决策，并将资源转移到最重要的地方。第二个是技术。
‘Technology is reshaping what’s possible’ Foran gave two reasons for the cuts. The first is simplification, with faster decisions and resources moved to where they matter most. The second is technology.
“技术正在重塑可能的边界。工作方式正在各行各业发生变化；我们必须适应并利用技术，”福兰写道。
“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.
裁员将使克罗格能够继续投资于一线员工，他说。这也将把资源更靠近客户，以降低价格。
The cuts will let Kroger keep investing in its frontline workers, he said. They will also move resources closer to customers to lower prices.
备忘录中未说明AI将取代多少岗位。克罗格在9月份公布了其AI战略。据《财富》杂志报道，该战略包括预测需求和个性化节省的工具。其他工具帮助客户规划餐食，并围绕预算构建购物车。克罗格还在构建AI代理，以帮助门店团队优先处理日常任务。它正向超过40万名员工提供AI培训。
The memo does not say how many roles AI will replace. Kroger set out its AI strategy in September. It includes tools that forecast demand and personalise savings, Fortune reported. Others help customers plan meals and build carts around their budgets. Kroger is also building AI agents to help store teams prioritise daily tasks. It offers AI training to more than 400,000 employees.
前沃尔玛高管接手沃尔玛克罗格是美国最大的独立超市连锁店，据美联社报道。它拥有40.9万名员工和超过2700家门店。其旗下品牌包括拉尔夫斯、金氏超市、史密斯和弗雷德迈耶。
A former Walmart boss takes on Walmart Kroger is the largest standalone supermarket chain in the US, the Associated Press reported. It has 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores. Its banners include Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.
福兰于2月成为首席执行官。他在2014年至2019年期间负责沃尔玛的美国业务。目前克罗格与沃尔玛、奥尔迪和利德尔争夺相同的顾客群体。沃尔玛也在为自身门店添加技术，例如发光货架标签。
Foran became chief executive in February. He ran Walmart’s US business from 2014 to 2019. Kroger now competes with Walmart, Aldi and Lidl for the same shoppers. Walmart is adding tech to its own stores too, such as light-up shelf labels.
克罗格并非唯一在采用人工智能的同时裁员的公司。HubSpot计划在转向人工智能的过程中裁减660个岗位，亚马逊据报道本月也裁减了零售岗位。
Kroger is not alone in cutting roles as it adopts AI. HubSpot plans to cut 660 jobs as it pivots to AI, and Amazon reportedly cut retail jobs this month.
“只省几分钱” 追踪福尔兰领导下克罗格转型的零售分析师尼尔·桑德斯对《财富》杂志表示，购物者可能会看到适度的节省。
‘Only cents off’ the basket Neil Saunders, a retail analyst who has tracked Kroger’s turnaround under Foran, told Fortune that shoppers may see modest savings.
“如果分散到各种产品上，这种投资平均每个购物篮只能降低几分钱的价格，”桑德斯说。
“If spread across various products this kind of investment would take only cents off the price of an average basket,” Saunders said.
如果克罗格将节省下来的资金集中在价格最重要的产品上，效果可能会更大。他预计克罗格会这样做。他还表示，并非每一次裁员都归因于自动化。
The effect could be bigger if Kroger focuses the savings on products where price matters most. He expects it to do that. He also said not every cut is down to automation.
“在某种程度上，克罗格的企业结构臃肿且低效，因此无论是否有任何技术创新，这些裁员中的一些都会发生，”桑德斯说。
“There is a degree to which Kroger’s corporate structure was bloated and inefficient, so some of these cuts would have happened regardless of any technological innovation,” Saunders said.
美联社报道，周二下午交易中，克罗格股价下跌2.2%，报61.21美元。
Kroger shares fell 2.2% to $61.21 in afternoon trading on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.