CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. said this month that it plans to hire 11,000 employees to fill jobs across its supermarket divisions, including nearly 2,000 management positions.

The job growth figures do not include jobs created as a result of capital investment, such as temporary construction jobs, or increases due to the company’s mergers, according to Kroger, which said it created 10,000 new jobs in 2017 and 12,000 in 2016. The company and its subsidiaries currently employ nearly 500,000 people.

“Over the last decade, Kroger has added 100,000 new jobs in communities across America,” said Tim Massa, Kroger’s group vice president of human resources and labor relations. “In addition to fueling the U.S. economy, many of our supermarket jobs are an opportunity for associates to grow and advance their careers.”

Kroger said it will invest $500 million in associate wages, training and development over the next three years, and added that Kroger associates in Cincinnati last month ratified a labor pact with United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 75 that will lead to starting wage and overall wage hikes in markets nationwide. The agreement lifted starting wages to at least $10 per hour and accelerated wage growth to $11 an hour after a year of service for associates in the Cincinnati/Dayton division.

Kroger also said it will devote a significant portion of the tax benefit it received from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to investments in its associates, with details to come later this month.