Fresh & Easy to Cut 50 Jobs

Unless you live in a distinct area of the American west, or travel there with some frequency, the odds are pretty good that you have never been inside of a Fresh & Easy. For those of you who are not familiar with the company here is a look at how the company has chosen to describe itself, “Fresh & Easy operates more than 190 stores in Arizona, California and Nevada. All of Fresh & Easy’s products, including the freshly prepared meals, are made with the highest quality ingredients and contain no artificial colors, flavors, high-fructose corn syrup or added trans fats. Fresh & Easy also offers fresh baked goods, meats and produce, as well as favorite national brand products and household items, all at great low prices.”

Well it looks like the regional grocery chain is going to be letting go of a significant number of workers. The chain has let go of about 50 workers at its offices in El Segundo in what qualifies as a mass layoff action under the current federal guidelines. For those of you who are not familiar with the idea of a mass layoff action here is a look at how the federal government defines the term, “The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.” On the bright side, what may be the only bright side of a layoff, is that a mass layoff action comes with certain protections. In order to make things less traumatic on the local community and on the workers, a couple of weeks of advance notice are given to the workers who are going to be displaced. This allows them to make critical fiscal decisions as well as preparing to transition to the lesser funding from unemployment.

Interesting enough the company has not made a statement about the job cuts that are to come. Instead, the most recent press release the company instead chose to talk about a new offering for its customers, a line of take out foods, “Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has launched ‘Kitchen To Go,’ several innovative ranges of over 150 chef-created, prepared meal bowls, appetizers, side dishes, and entrees. ‘Kitchen To Go’ is designed to give busy customers new, delicious and wholesome take-out options that can serve one person to a whole family.” The company has said, in the past that if things do not go well they will close stores. Previously the company has closed stores in Japan when the idea of the stores was not popular with the people and the company did not show much in the way of a profit.