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U.S. grocery chain Whole Foods to cut 1,500 jobs amid fierce competition

Xinhua, September 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Whole Foods Market Inc., a Texas-based U.S. grocery chain specializing in natural and organic foods, announced Monday to slash about 1,500 jobs over the next two months.

The reduction represents about laying off 1.6 percent of its 93,750-strong workforce. The move is taken to bring down retail prices, according to local English daily newspaper the Houston Chronicle.

Many of the job cuts will come via attrition and affected employees are expected to land other jobs from the company's nearly 2,000 open positions or from new jobs to be created in more than 100 new stores under development.

The move came in the wake of a scandal resulting from an investigation by New York City Department of Consumer Affairs in July. Officials found the company routinely overcharged customers for its pre-packaged products.

Nevertheless, Whole Foods, which is headquartered in the Texas capital of Austin, has announced steps to rectify the problem, including employee training and a pledge to give away products found to be overcharged.

Fierce competition from growing availability of organic foods in the market also poses challenge to Whole Foods, prompting plans to appeal to a broader customer base and open more stores with lower prices initially in Houston, a city in Texas, and in other states.

Founded in 1980, the grocery chain has evolved from a store with 19 employees in Austin to the 427 stores in North America and the United Kingdom at present. Endit