SoCal grocer lays off workers for the first time – CEO blames inflation and tariffs

CALIFORNIA – San Bernardino-based Stater Bros. Markets is laying off 63 store clerks across four stores – Costa Mesa, Orange, Grand Terrace and Ontario.

According to the OC Register over 100 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers protested on March 5, at the Stater Bros. store in Costa Mesa, asking the company to rehire laid-off courtesy clerks at other stores with open jobs.

Stater Bros. CEO Peter Van Helden said in a video statement that this is the first layoffs in company history.

“So in a word, why did we do this? In one word – inflation,” said Van Helden.

He goes on to say that with the recent announcements of new tariffs, and probably more tariffs to come, it’s likely inflation is going to take off above the 4.5% seen now.

“I’m very worried about that,” said Van Helden.

Stater Bros. has increased prices by 30% over the last four years

President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada started on Tuesday, March 4. Two days later, he announced a pause on tariffs for goods and services that follow the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) rules until April 2. However, on Friday, Trump said he might add tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products as early as March 9th.

Critics say the pause causes uncertainty for businesses and the broader economy.

With tariffs looming, Van Helden noted that Stater Bros. has already increased prices by 30% over the last four years due to inflation.

“And for a lot of our customers they didn’t get a 30% increase in wages so they’ve had to find ways to cut back,” said Van Helden.

Instead of raising prices for customers again, Van Helden said the company plans to cut costs by reducing spending on labor, electricity, and other expenses to save money.

‘Going to have to continue to reduce the number of jobs’

Van Helden is not alone in reducing labor to cut costs.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that U.S.-based employers announced 172,017 job cuts in February, a 245% increase from January’s 49,795 job cuts.

The largest share of job cuts came from the federal government, with 62,242 cuts announced across 17 different federal agencies. The retail and technology industries had the second and third highest job cuts, respectively.

Van Helden said that he’s pretty certain that in the future that they’re going to have to continue to reduce the number of jobs in the company.

He points out that advancements like artificial intelligence will likely accelerate this trend, making job reductions more necessary or inevitable.

“These are tough decisions. These are decisions I have to make. My number one job in this company is to make sure that this company is here for a long time providing good jobs, union jobs and career paths for those that want them,” said Van Helden.

Van Helden also noted that Stater Bros.’ unionized workforce, with higher wages and benefits, contributes to higher prices for customers to cover the increased labor costs.