Walgreens will lay off more workers

Walgreens Boots Alliance is laying off another round of workers, marking the fourth time the struggling retailer has had to do corporate personnel cuts within a year.

Company spokeswoman Megan Boyd said in a statement to Supermarket News that the majority of impacted roles are based in the retailer’s Chicago offices. Boyd would not confirm how many workers would be impacted by the layoffs.  

“To ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible, and to deliver on our plan to reduce costs, we have identified areas in our corporate support center where we can reduce complexity and consolidate work, resulting in the elimination of some positions,” Boyd said. “ We value the contributions of impacted team members and will fully support them through this difficult time.”

In October 2023, CEO Tim Wentworth announced that Walgreens would cut $1 billion in costs this year, and so far, the Deerfield-based company has eliminated personnel every few months over the last year.

In May 2023, Walgreens cut 504 corporate jobs, representing about 10% of its corporate workforce at the time. Months later, the company announced it was closing an ecommerce center in Illinois, eliminating another 400 roles. In November 2023, the retailer announced that some 267 corporate level workers would lose their jobs, representing 5% of the company’s total corporate workforce. That announcement was quickly followed in January by yet another round of cuts — eliminating 145 mostly corporate positions across the company.

Related:Walgreens Boots Alliance faces $2.7B tax claim from IRS

In March, Walgreens additionally announced that it was closing two distribution centers in Florida and Connecticut, laying off some 646 workers as a result.

Other recent cost-saving strategies have included closing struggling stores, along with dozens of VillageMD clinics, and reducing store hours in some locations.

Cash flow problems were pushed to a point in January, when the company cut its dividend by nearly 50%, to 25 cents per share.