Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said Tuesday that one of his biggest challenges is staff shortages.
The supermarket currently has about 20,000 jobs, McMullen said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“We’re aggressively hiring anywhere we can,” he said. “One of the biggest limitations we have right now is finding talented people.”
Kroger is the largest supermarket operator in the country with more than 2,700 stores under various banners, including its own name and other brands such as Ralphs, Harris Teeter and Fry’s. It had about 460,000 employees at the close of the last fiscal year, which ended Jan. 30. The supermarket competes for workers at a time when there are more jobs than people, and some choose to leave the workforce for other factors. , such as the lack of care for children.
Other large retailers and restaurant chains have also talked about the struggle to occupy positions in a tight labor market. This has prompted companies like Amazon and Target to launch new benefits, such as covering the cost of college, and others like Walmart and CVS Health, to increase hourly pay.
McMullen said the supermarket has tried to stay competitive by gradually increasing wages and increasing productivity through the use of technology and changing work processes.
On Tuesday, Kroger announced a new strategy to grow its business without the need to expand its own staff. An agreement was established with Instacart to deliver grocery orders online to customers ’homes in just 30 minutes. Deliveries will be made by workers in the concerted economy for the third-party delivery service who will snatch groceries from Kroger’s shelves.
“It’s taking advantage of our existing assets in a way and offering something new to the customer,” McMullen said.