Starbucks lays off 1,100 corporate employees, cuts food and beverage items
FILE – Starbucks sign. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Starbucks plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees globally and cut 30% of its food and beverage offerings to streamline operations.
New Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said the company will inform employees who are being laid off by midday Tuesday. Niccol said Starbucks is also eliminating several hundred open and unfilled positions.
Starbucks has 16,000 corporate support employees worldwide, but that includes some employees who aren’t impacted, like roasting and warehouse staff. Baristas in the company’s stores — who make up most of the company’s 361,000 employees worldwide — are not included in the layoffs.
Starbucks hired Niccol last fall to turn around sluggish sales. He has said he wants to improve service times — especially during the morning rush — and reestablish stores as community gathering places.
Starbucks’ global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 2% in its 2024 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 29. In the U.S., customers tired of price increases and growing wait times. However, in its most recent quarter, the company topped most sales expectations after Niccol made changes that were visible to customers, such as the decision to stop charging extra for non-dairy milk.
Over the next few months, some of Starbucks’ Frappuccino blended drinks, its royal English breakfast latte and white hot chocolate will be among the first items cut because they’re too complex to make and don’t sell in large quantities.
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