People are slamming Amazon and Jeff Bezos after hundreds of part-time Whole Foods workers lose benefits 2 years after acquisition

Business Insider/Jessica Tyler

People protest Amazon's plans to open a second headquarters in New York City.

• Whole Foods is cutting medical benefits for hundreds of part-time workers. 
• The changes come two years after the grocery chain's acquisition by Amazon. 
• Amazon and CEO Jeff Bezos are facing backlash for the change, with one person tweeting: "Amazon has decided part-time workers no longer deserve benefits so Bezos can build a bigger rocket." 
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Whole Foods is cutting medical benefits for hundreds of part-time workers two years after its acquisition by Amazon. 

On Thursday, Business Insider's Hayley Peterson reported that the grocery chain is cutting medical benefits for hundreds of part-time workers.

A Whole Foods representative confirmed the changes, which will take effect on January 1 and affect just under 2% of Whole Foods' total workforce. 

Read more: Whole Foods is cutting medical benefits for hundreds of part-time workers

Whole Foods said it was making the change "to better meet the needs of our business and create a more equitable and efficient scheduling model."

"The small percentage of part-time team members ... who previously opted into medical benefits through Whole Foods Market's healthcare plan - less than 2% of our total workforce - will no longer be eligible for medical coverage through the company," the Whole Foods representative said.

Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017.

On social media, Amazon saw backlash for the change. 

Others pointed out that while roughly 1,900 Whole Foods employees were losing their health care benefits, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, worth an estimated $114 billion. 

A 15-year employee of Whole Foods told Business Insider she was devastated by the news, as her family was covered by the health-insurance plan she is enrolled in through her job at Whole Foods.

She said she would have to increase her hours to become eligible for full-time benefits and pay for childcare, or shop for a new and potentially more expensive health-insurance plan on the private marketplace. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.