Starbucks to lay off 1,100 corporate employees in major reorganization effort

GLOBAL – Leading coffeehouse and roastery chain Starbucks has announced that it will cut 1,100 corporate and administrative roles as part of its broader reorganization strategy.

In an announcement made by CEO Brian Niccol, it was confirmed that affected employees would be notified by midday on Tuesday, February 25, 2025.

Starbucks will detail the compensation package, healthcare benefits, and career transition services for those leaving, as communicated in an internal message sent on February 24, 2025, to all global support partners.

That message specifically outlined the decisions impacting non-retail support roles, while assuring that in-store teams and investments in store operating hours would remain unaffected.

Niccol explained that in January the company had begun evaluating the role, structure, and size of its global support teams as part of its “Back to Starbucks” plan to position the company for future success.

He noted that the leadership team had concluded its review, and the forthcoming changes would include the difficult decision to eliminate 1,100 current support partner roles along with several hundred additional open and unfilled positions.

According to Niccol, these measures were designed to simplify the organizational structure by removing unnecessary layers and redundancy, thereby creating smaller, more agile teams capable of operating more efficiently, increasing accountability, reducing complexity, and driving better integration to achieve a greater impact on the company’s priorities.

In addition to these workforce adjustments, Starbucks announced that beginning March 4, 2025, a selection of beverages would be removed from its menu.

The items targeted for elimination include several Frappuccino blended beverages, the Royal English Breakfast Latte, and the White Hot Chocolate, as they are infrequently ordered, challenging to prepare, or too similar to other offerings.

The strategy is intended to allow the company to focus on fewer, more popular items, thereby paving the way for innovation, reducing customer wait times, and enhancing the quality and consistency of its products.

Financially, Starbucks reported in January 2025 a flat Q1 net revenue of US$9.39 billion for fiscal year 2025, a slight decline from US$9.42 billion in Q1 of the previous year.

Its net earnings for Q1 2025, ending December 29, 2024, fell by 23.8% to US$780.8 million, compared to US$1.02 billion in Q1 2024. Globally, comparable store sales declined by 4%, driven by a 6% drop in transactions, with similar trends observed in North American and international markets.

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