Whole Foods Cuts 1,500 Jobs in an Attempt to Lower Prices and Upgrade Technology

The cuts will take place over the next eight weeks.

Whole Foods' workforce will soon no longer be whole. According to the Associated Press, the upscale grocery store chain is letting 1,500 employees go, which is approximately 1.6 percent of its workers. The company notes in a statement that the cuts will happen over the next eight weeks but that a "significant percentage" of affected workers will likely find jobs in the "2,000 positions open across the country or via new jobs created from the more than 100 new stores in development." But there is no guarantee that they will get a new position.

Whole Foods says that cuts are part of the chain's goal to invest in technology upgrades and to "lower prices for its customers." Co-CEO Walter Robb notes in the statement that Whole Foods is offering the employees "transition pay, generous severance, or the opportunity to apply for other jobs."

The cuts are just the latest event in a recent series of bad news for the grocery store company: This summer, Whole Foods was hit with not one, but two major lawsuits. The company is facing a federal lawsuit that accuses its top executives of "violating securities laws by deceiving shareholders" and misrepresenting the value of the chain's stock. Whole Foods is also being sued by a New York City resident for overcharging customers. The lawsuit was filed just a day after an investigation into the store revealed that packaged foods were "routinely mislabeled."

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