Grocery store chain Kroger said it will lay off 3,000 corporate employees over the next three years as it ramps up its use of artificial intelligence to streamline operations.
“Technology is reshaping what’s possible,” CEO Greg Foran wrote in a memo to employees on Monday. “The way work gets done is changing across every industry; we must adapt and take advantage of technology. We need to adopt capabilities, reduce duplicative work and look closely at where work is best fit to be done.”
Kroger last month outlined its AI strategy, meant “to improve the customer experience, make work easier for associates and produce better business outcomes.”
Cincinnati-based Kroger is the largest standalone U.S. supermarket chain with 409,000 employees and more than 2,700 stores operating under various brands, including Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.
Kroger named former Walmart executive Foran CEO in February, 11 months after the abrupt resignation of its previous CEO.
Foran has a reputation for being tech-savvy and detail-oriented. He led Walmart’s U.S. division from 2014 to 2019, where he focused on cleaning up stores, ensuring items were in stock and improving the fresh produce selection. He also introduced online ordering and pickup, and accelerated Walmart’s digital capabilities.
Walmart has become a larger challenge to Kroger and other traditional grocers as Americans increasingly pick up their groceries along with other general goods that Walmart sells.
Kroger has also felt pressure from fast-growing discount chains like Aldi and Lidl and online behemoths like Amazon.
Kroger proposed a merger with Albertsons in 2022 as a way to better compete with its rivals. But the Federal Trade Commission and two states — Washington and Colorado — sued to block the merger in 2024, saying it would raise prices and lower workers’ wages by eliminating competition. Judges ultimately ruled that the merger should not proceed.
A day after their merger collapsed, Albertsons filed a lawsuit against Kroger, seeking a $600 million termination fee as well as billions of dollars in legal fees and lost shareholder value.
Kroger said the claims were “baseless” and that Albertsons was not entitled to the fee.
Kroger shares fell 1.6% in morning trading Tuesday, to $61.66.
FILE - A Kroger grocery store is seen in Monroe, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Greta Thunberg on Tuesday threw her high-profile support behind high school protesters rattling the government in France, saying “the whole world is watching with awe."
She joined and applauded hundreds of teenagers who demonstrated boisterously outside a school north of Paris under the watchful eye of police.
The surprise appearance by the 23-year-old climate activist, along with another day of marches in the French capital, suggested that high school students' push for more resources for run-down schools is far from running out of steam.
That's despite mass arrests, mounting injuries and fatigue from more than three weeks of blockading and demonstrating outside schools around the country. Police fired clouds of tear gas and repeatedly charged protesters Tuesday when violence erupted on the fringes of the Paris marches that drew thousands.
Outside the Paul Éluard high school in Saint-Denis, where staff and students have long complained of dilapidated facilities and even rat infestations, Thunberg said French pupils are “fighting back, reclaiming their future that has been taken away from them" and are inspiring young people in other countries.
“The international community sees these students and they’re leading by example," she said to The Associated Press. "This generation is one that has been growing up with a sense of hopelessness for the future, when we can see our future and our rights taken from us,” she said.
“Of course people are going to fight back," she added.
The students' grievances have resonated in neighboring Belgium, where some schools closed in Liege. Several Italian cities have also seen student protests, though on a smaller scale than in France and focused on broader complaints. In Germany, high school students are calling for an international youth strike on Nov. 20, in solidarity with the French protests.
Some French pupils say they see parallels between their protests and the “Cockroach” youth movement challenging the government in India and youth-led demonstrations a year ago in Morocco that also demanded better schools and hospitals.
Thunberg also cited protests in Spain, gripped by demonstrations for affordable housing, and in Latin America.
“These movements are connected in one way or another. We are fighting against the same system," she said. "Even though these local issues are different and may vary, we have the same enemy and I definitely think that these movements are inspiring each other.”
The government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, whose term ends in May, argues that the movement in France is losing momentum. The education ministry said fewer schools were closed Tuesday although the number of staff injured since protests began in mid-September has risen to 147. The government says hundreds of police officers have also been wounded but has not detailed the severity of their injuries.
Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. The interior minister suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.
Pupils and university students who blockaded the Maurice Ravel high school in eastern Paris on Tuesday said they feel that their complaints are being heard by supporters in France and abroad but not by the government. Some vowed to keep protesting until that changes.
“We’re certainly making noise and getting people talking, but unfortunately, our message isn’t reaching the people who should be making the changes,” said Ryan, a 20-year-old student who said he didn't want to give his surname for fear of possible repercussions.
"That’s why the movement needs to keep going and persist.”
Corbet reported from Paris.
Activist Greta Thunberg atends a gathering in front of the Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Activist Greta Thunberg answers journalist's questions as she attends a gathering in front of the Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Activist Greta Thunberg answers journalist's questions as she attends a gathering in front of the Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Activist Greta Thunberg poses as she attends a gathering in front of Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
