Dee-Ann Durbin, Apsociated Press Business Wrtier
Starbucks plans to fire 1,100 corporate employees worldwide as new chairman and CEO Brian Nicole streamlines operations.
In a letter to employees released Monday, Niccol said the company will notify employees who have been fired by noon Tuesday. Nicole said Starbucks is also eliminating hundreds of open, unopened positions.
“Our intention is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and promote better integration,” Nicole wrote in the letter.
Starbucks has 16,000 corporate support employees worldwide, but also includes unaffected employees, such as roasting and warehouse staff. Baristas in company stores are not included in the layoffs.
Nicole said in January that the company’s layoffs would be announced by early March. He said that the Seattle coffee giant must oversee all work by someone who can make decisions, while reducing the complexity of its structure and eliminating silos within the company that slows communication. I stated.
“Our size and structure can slow us down, too many layers, managers of small teams, roles focus primarily on coordinating work,” writes Nicole.
Starbucks hired Nicole last fall, slowing sales. He says he wants to improve service times, especially during the morning rush hour, and reestablish the store as a community gathering location.
Niccol is experimenting with ordering algorithms to reduce items from Starbucks menus and better handle the mix of orders in mobile, drive-through and in-store.
Starbucks’ global sales in the same store, or in locations open for at least a year, fell 2% in 2024 and ended on September 29th. In the US, we are tired of rising prices and increasing wait times. In China, the second largest market, Starbucks faces growing competition from its cheap rivals.
Starbucks stock was flat in pre-market trading on Monday.
Original issue: February 24, 2025 9:03am EST
