Safeway Cuts Administrative Staff

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway here told SN yesterday it made "a very modest number" of layoffs at its offices here as part of an effort to streamline its administrative staff. The company declined to disclose specific numbers but emphasized that, out of 207,000 companywide employees, "it's a very modest number" that the company deems as not material. The layoffs were across multiple functions, a spokesman told SN. "Running a business requires a focus on expenses and the need always to calibrate staff levels, and this was part of an ongoing process," he explained. There are no immediate plans for further layoffs, he added. "A low-margin business like ours requires rigorous attention to operating and administrative expenses, and occasionally that means adjustments to backstage staffing levels," he said.

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