Walgreens is laying off more than 600 employees in two states as it continues reshaping operations under private equity ownership, Bloomberg reported Feb. 19.
The company will reduce its Illinois workforce by 469 roles and eliminate 159 jobs in Texas as part of a distribution center shutdown. The cuts were detailed in notices the company submitted to state officials earlier in February, the report said.
In a statement to Becker’s, a Walgreens spokesperson said the company is focused on improving the in-store experience, and has made the “difficult decision to simplify our organization in both the support center and with our field leadership to speed decision making and improve the service that millions of customers rely on every day.”
The latest workforce reductions add to the company’s cost-cutting measures in recent years. In May 2023, the company eliminated 504 corporate roles. In November 2023, Walgreens laid off about 5% of its corporate workforce and later confirmed plans in January 2024 to cut another 145 positions — most of them corporate employees — to reduce expenses. In October 2024, Walgreens also cut 256 support center roles as it sought to refocus on its core retail pharmacy business.
The staffing cuts come after Walgreens was acquired by Sycamore Partners in August in a $10 billion deal that took the company private. Under the deal, Walgreens Boots Alliance was split into five standalone companies: Walgreens, The Boots Group, Shields Health Solutions, CareCentrix and VillageMD.
Walgreens had been grappling with sustained financial pressure before the buyout. In 2024, the company announced plans to shutter about 1,200 stores over three years, including 500 locations in fiscal 2025.
In its most recent quarterly results, Walgreens reported $38.6 billion in revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 but recorded a $5.6 billion operating loss, largely tied to asset write-downs involving VillageMD and its retail pharmacy segment. The company also recorded a $2.9 billion net loss and negative $418 million in free cash flow for the quarter.
