Walgreens Boots Alliance to cut 10% of corporate

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., is set to cut its corporate staff by about 10%, as it “streamlines operations and focuses on consumer-facing healthcare businesses,” reports Reuters. 

Walgreens Boots Alliance, headquartered in Deerfield, Ill., has over 325,000 employees, according to the company’s latest quarterly earnings report. The pharmacy chain owner has said it is “making the difficult decision to eliminate 504 roles, which account for 10% of our corporate workforce,” according to reporting from Fox. 

While the 504 roles are being eliminated, none of the roles are based at its stores, micro-fulfillment outlets, or call centers, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

The workforce reduction was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, which said that Walgreens Boots Alliances white-collar employees based at the Deerfield and Chicago offices would be most impacted by the layoffs. And, while spokesperson Marty Maloney denied that the layoffs are connected to the company’s financial liabilities, the company reported a $5.4 billion after-tax charge to cover opioid claims and litigation for the six months ending Feb. 28.

“As we continue to transform our business into a consumer-centric healthcare company, we are focused on aligning our structure and streamlining our operations to best serve our patients and customers,” Walgreens Boots Alliance said in an emailed statement to Supermarket News. “With that in mind, we are making the difficult decision to eliminate 504 roles, which account for 10% of our corporate workforce. None of these roles are based at our stores, microfulfillment centers, or call centers.”

Related:California cancels $54M contract with Walgreens over abortion pill stance

We’re grateful for the many contributions by the team members who will be leaving our organization, and are committed to supporting them as much as possible during this transition.

Earlier this month, the company settled with San Francisco, agreeing to pay the city $230 million over its sales of opioids, and Walgreens disputed in a federal court a $642 million arbitration award for health insurance provider Humana in a fight over drug prices.

Walgreens had been looking to expand beyond its core business, with acquisitions of healthcare services operator VillageMD (contributing $3.5 billion), and urgent-care provider Summit Health. However, it lost market share to competitors after closing several stores during the pandemic. The transaction, valued at $8.9 billion, also involved investment from Cigna’s Evernorth. 

Walgreens aims to regain that lost share by the end of fiscal year 2023 by “reducing the pay gap and increasing automation at fulfillment centers.” 

Related:Walgreens will pay $230M settlement in San Francisco opioid case