Starbucks Corp is laying off about 350 global corporate employees, chief executive officer Kevin Johnson said on Tuesday in a memo to employees, seen by Reuters.
The elimination of the non-store employees is part of a restructuring plan that Johnson unveiled in September in an attempt to make the company nimble enough to tackle rivals in a fiercely competitive US coffee market.
'Careful Consideration'
"Every single decision was made after very careful consideration... And while incredibly difficult, they came as a result of work that has been eliminated, deprioritised or shifting ways of working within the company," Johnson wrote in the memo.
The layoffs would primarily affect employees at its Seattle Support Centre, the memo said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the layoffs.
In the beginning of November, the company reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly sales at established stores as it benefited from higher prices in the United States and a rebound in China.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
