Report says 267 corporate level workers will lose their jobs

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance is once again making leadership changes and trimming its corporate staff.

In yet another round of layoffs, 267 corporate level workers will lose their jobs, representing 5% of the company’s total corporate workforce, according to a memo obtained by Crain’s Chicago Business.

Luke Rauch, chief merchandising officer; Kevin Ban, WBA’s chief medical officer; and Robert Tompkins, group vice president and general merchandise manager, are among those exiting.

Rauch was responsible for overall merchandising strategy and execution across the chain’s more than 9,000 locations. He was previously chief of staff to the CEO, a position in which he helped drive the company’s pivot toward health care through an overhaul of strategy and culture.

Ban is leaving the company on Friday after more than three years of service as part of a $1 billion cost reduction initiative, Bloomberg reported, citing a memo sent to employees. Chief clinical officer Sashi Moodley is set to replace Ban, according to people familiar with the matter. Ban was named to his post in January 2020, and his departure among others, marks the latest leadership shakeup at WBA after its new chief executive officer, Tim Wentworth, took over in October. Luke Sauter, chief of staff to the CEO, is also leaving. Former CEO Roz Brewer stepped down in August.

Tompkins was promoted to his post in 2016. He earlier was divisional merchandise manager for O-T-Cs.

“We’ve had to make some difficult decisions about budgets and investments, including stopping projects, dramatically reducing our spending, and going line by line in our budgets to unlock all potential savings,” Wentworth wrote in a statement.

This latest round of layoffs affects corporate employees at the retailer’s headquarters in Deerfield, Ill. The memo, from Wentworth, specifies that no one at the store, micro-fulfillment center, or call center level will be impacted by the layoffs.

Walgreens currently has about 238,000 employees worldwide.

“As we continue to streamline our operations and focus on our critical priorities to best serve our patients and customers we are making the difficult decision to eliminate 267 roles,” Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman said in a statement. “None of these roles are based at our stores. We are grateful for the many contributions by the team members who will be leaving our company and we are committed to supporting them as much as possible during this transition.”

Just last week, the company announced it would be eliminating bonuses for corporate staff and reducing bonuses for pharmacy and store managers.

During its fourth-quarter earnings call in October, executives said they would cut costs by $1 billion and lower capital expenditures by around $600 million.

“We must support our customer-facing activities, scrutinize every penny of spend that does not directly benefit the customer, and improve cash management,” said interim CEO Ginger Graham.

Fourth quarter net earnings went down by 17% year-over-year at $575 million and earnings for the year dropped by 20% to $3.4 billion.