While the holiday season brings a lot of color and cheer, the end of the year can also mean something much more serious: layoffs.
It’s a commonly held belief that layoffs are more likely to happen during the holiday season. This isn’t necessarily true. That said, layoffs around the holiday season can certainly sting more than layoffs that occur in other months.
That’s because the end of the year often comes with a lot of additional costs. There’s travel to pay for, gifts to buy, and if one is laid off, there’s no year-end bonus to help them through it. Not helping matters is the fact that hiring often slows toward the end of the year. This puts those who have been laid off in an incredibly precarious position.
No matter when it happens, getting laid off is the worst. Now, a user on TikTok has sparked discussion after documenting the experience firsthand following their years of work at Kroger.
Why Was This Kroger Worker Laid Off?
In a video with over 581,000 views, TikTok user Kake (@kakemakes) shows themselves listening to a phone call.
The call is a relatively standard layoff call, though the voice feels slightly stilted. The voice on the other side says that they “truly appreciate all you have done for this site, for our communities, and for our customers.” They also say that they want to “express our deepest gratitude and express our heartfelt thanks for your dedication and hard work.” The call closes with a personal thank you.
“You’re [expletive] with me,” Kake says. “Four years. Four years gone.”
In a comment, Kake stated that they were blindsided by this announcement.
“They’d been telling us that our spoke was the best spoke, numbers were great, and that they were even opening up new spokes in St.Pete and Sarasota at our last town hall,” the TikToker said. “They played us in our faces.”
Was This Layoff Call A.I.?
After Kake posted the video, users noted the strange, apparently emotionless voice delivering the news. Hearing this, they came to the conclusion that the voice was likely generated by artificial intelligence.
“Fired by AI is crazy work,” wrote a user.
“AI thanking a human during layoffs for a service that provides a vital service for a basic need is absolutely mind numbing to me,” stated another.
However, other commenters countered that the call was not actually performed by Artificial Intelligence. Instead, they say the speaker was the Vice President of Kroger.
It’s unclear who exactly was speaking, as there are several people listed as the company’s Executive Vice President on the Kroger website.
That said, Kake confirmed that there was, in fact, a person speaking in the video. They liked one of the comments saying that it was not A.I. and instead the vice president of the company.
Why Is Kroger Laying Off So Many Workers?
As noted by The Street, Kroger’s layoffs appear to be focusing on its fulfillment centers in Wisconsin, Maryland, Florida, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Florida will lose Kroger delivery entirely; other states will simply pivot to other means of delivery. These layoffs will come into full force at the end of January 2026, eliminating at least 1,600 jobs.
The reason, The Street explains, is that Kroger seems to be moving from its automated fulfillment network to a store-based model powered by services like Instacart and DoorDash. Customers will still be able to order groceries delivered from Kroger, though they will be fulfilled by the aforementioned services.
@kakemakes This can’t be real… #masslayoff #krogerdelivery #jobmarket2025 ♬ original sound – Kake
Commenters Are Upset
In the comments section, users noted their disdain for companies that perform layoffs around the holiday season. Some observed that Kroger had an operating profit of $3.8 billion in 2024, making them question why such layoffs were necessary.
“Tell me again why workers are required to give two weeks notice. But companies zero notice every time zero notice!” exclaimed a commenter.
“It needs to be illegal to fire people from October 1st to February 1st,” shared another.
“I refuse to believe the supermarket needs to lay ANYONE off. I know they’re making money hand over fist,” added a third.
The Mary Sue reached out to Kroger via email and Kake via Instagram and X DM.
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