Whole Foods plans layoffs as part of reorganization involving merchandising, operations, HR, and tech teams

• Whole Foods is laying off some corporate employees as part of a reorganization, the company confirmed.
• In a press release, it said the restructuring would impact merchandising, operations, HR, and tech teams.
• Amazon-owned Whole Foods has seen an explosion of business during the pandemic.

Whole Foods is planning layoffs as part of a larger restructuring of its business, the company confirmed to Insider on Thursday.

Whole Foods told Insider that it expects the layoffs to impact a small, but at this point unknown, number of corporate employees, and that employees who work at its stores and distribution centers will not be impacted.

In a press release, the Amazon-owned grocery chain said it's planning changes involving its merchandising and operations, team member services, and technology teams in order to sustain its pandemic growth.

"These changes are designed to improve support for our stores and distribution centers as we remain committed to delivering an exceptional customer experience in stores and online," Whole Foods said in the release.

The company said it plans to merge its global and regional merchandising teams, "realign" its team member services group, and shift its technology team "to focus more on skills required for software engineering and technical product and program manager roles."

Whole Foods has seen explosive growth during the pandemic, with online grocery sales tripling during its second quarter of 2020 as the pandemic forced Americans to stay home.

The company has also faced pushback from its front-line store and warehouse employees, some of which who say it hasn't done enough to keep them safe from COVID-19 and have criticized its hazard pay and healthcare policies.