McDonald's closes all of its US offices and cancels in-person meetings this week as it prepares to layoff corporate staff - after CEO warned 'difficult decisions' will be made
- McDonald's has temporarily shut down U.S. offices as they prepare for layoffs
- According to a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal, the company said layoffs will begin during the week of April 3
- In January, CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company would experience position cuts at the corporate level in a memo sent out to employees
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the layoffs - part of a company restructuring - will begin Monday after they told employees to work from home so they can fire their staff virtually.
'During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,' McDonald's officials said in a memo.
The company said that they made the decision to announce cuts virtually due to an anticipated busy travel week.
It's unclear at this time how many employees are set to be laid off, however, CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a January email there would be 'difficult discussions and decisions ahead.'
- It's unclear at this time how many employees are set to be laid off, however, CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a January email there would be 'difficult discussions and decisions ahead'
While the message was mostly to U.S. employees, some international corporate workers were also included.
In the memo, company executives also advised that upcoming in-person meetings with vendors and other outside parties at headquarters be canceled.
The decision to have employees work remotely for part of the week is due to an anticipated busy travel week ahead, potentially connected to the Easter holiday.
Workers who don't have access to a computer were told to give their personal contact information to their manager.
'We want to ensure the comfort and confidentiality of our people during the notification period,' the company said.
McDonald's employs roughly 200,000 people around the world in corporate roles and company owned restaurants.
Around 75 percent of the employees are located outside of the U.S.
DailyMail.com reached out to McDonald's for comment on the layoffs as well as an estimated number of job cuts anticipated but did not hear back.
In his January email, Kempczinski said the corporate job cuts which would begin in April would be made help the business grow.
In a letter to staff, the CEO warned that the company had become unfocused.
'We had across the globe 70 different, distinct versions of what a crispy chicken sandwich would look like,' he wrote.
'I don't need 70 different permutations of a chicken sandwich.'
The Chicago-based burger restaurant operates 40,000 restaurants in over 160 countries with a total of two million staff in its franchised outlets. Around 13,000 of those locations are in the United States.
The CEO also wrote in the letter: 'Today, we're divided into silos with a center, segments, and markets.'
The memo sent in January was titled 'Accelerating the Arches 2.0.'
In an interview, he said that he didn't have a set amount he was hoping the job cuts would save but that he was focused on advancing the business.
'Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away,' Kempczinski said.
This isn't the first time the company has conducted layoffs among corporate workers.
In 2018, McDonald's cut management-level workers to be 'more dynamic, nimble and competitive.'
Despite Kempczinksi's insistence on cutting costs and increasing profits for the fast-food giant, McDonald's costs have recently begun to mellow out after being hit by record high inflation rates.
The company was able to maintain profits for the most part thanks to customers who were turning to the chain for cheap and fast food.
'We’re gaining share right now among low-income consumers,' said McDonald's CFO Ian Borden in October.
Kempczinski said in January that the company has continued to see business among lower-income customers, but that they were typically order fewer things or less-expensive items.
Source:https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...meetings-prepares-layoff-corporate-staff.html
