Plesanton, Calif., 29 Feb, 2008 - Safeway Inc. has fired part of its administrative staff to help bolster its profits as the sluggish economy erodes the grocer's sales growth.
The Pleasanton-based company isn't saying how many workers were jettisoned, but Safeway spokesman Brian Dowling said Thursday that the cuts were "very modest." He said the layoffs occurred at offices in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia.
Citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Contra Costa Times said about 400 administrative workers lost their jobs. The cuts included about 70 layoffs at Safeway's headquarters, according to documents filed with local government officials.
That's a fraction of the roughly 200,000 workers employed by Safeway, the second largest U.S. grocer. Most of the employees work in Safeway's 1,743 stores.
Safeway Chairman Steve Burd telegraphed the layoffs last week while discussing the company's fourth-quarter results and outlook for this year. Burd told analysts that Safeway planned to trim its expenses more aggressively to ensure the company hits its 2008 earnings target.
Safeway's shares closed down 18 cents at $29.42 on Thursday.