Labor & Employment

The online giant is launching an Uber-like program, called Flex, that uses on-demand independent contractors to deliver Amazon packages.  The service is now available only in Seattle (and only to members of Amazon’s Prime Now same-day delivery service), but the company  expects to  roll it out  to other cities where Prime Now is offered, including Manhattan, Baltimore, Miami, Dallas, and Chicago.

Gap plans to expand the training program it offers to its women garment workers oversees, aiming to educate at least 1 million women by 2020.

The program, called P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement), launched in 2007 and gives women garment workers access to a curriculum up to 80 hours long in up to nine areas, from communications skills, financial literacy, stress management, problem-solving and decision-making.

Whole Foods Market says it is slashing more than 1% of its workforce in an effort to lower prices for its customers and invest in technology upgrades, as the company fights against increasing competition in the organic grocery space.

Whole Foods Market says it is slashing more than 1% of its workforce in an effort to lower prices for its customers and invest in technology upgrades.

The grocery chainsaysit will cut about 1,500 jobs, or 1.6% of its workforce, over the next eight weeks. The company says many of the reductions will come through attrition.

Charlotte, N.C. -- The Chambers Group, an X Team International partner and full-service real estate brokerage firm announced that Jenn Olevitch-Roberson has joined the company as partner to lead the company’s second location in Raleigh, North Carolina. The office will open Oct. 1, and, over the course of the next 12 months, The Chambers Group will add approximately six new and seasoned brokers to their team in Raleigh.

The bankrupt Haggen supermarket chain has listed 111 locations for sale, many in California, as the company looks to refocus its operations on 37 stores in the Pacific Northwest.

Former Save-A-Lot CFO Rob Anderson has joined PetSmart as CFO.

Anderson assumes his new role at the nation’s largest pet specialty retailer on Oct. 5 amid rumors that PetSmart and Petco are exploring a merger. Anderson is a veteran financial executive who most recently served as CFO of the $4.8 billion discount grocery chain Save-A-Lot.