WALL STREET JOURNAL – McDonald’s Corp. is temporarily closing its U.S. offices this week as it prepares to inform corporate employees about layoffs undertaken by the burger giant as part of a broader company restructuring.
The Chicago-based fast-food chain said in an internal email last week to U.S. employees and some international staff that they should work from home from Monday through Wednesday so it can deliver staffing decisions virtually.
The company, in the message, asked employees to cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and other outside parties at its headquarters.
“During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,” the company said in the message viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
McDonald’s declined to comment Sunday on the number of employees being laid off.
“McDonald’s said it employed 205,000 people globally in corporate roles and its owned restaurants in 2019, down from 235,000 in 2017.”
McDonald’s in January said that it planned to make “difficult” decisions about changes to its corporate staffing levels by April, as part of a broader strategic plan for the burger chain.
Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski said in an interview at the time that he expected to save money as part of the workforce assessment, but said then he didn’t have a set dollar amount or number of jobs he was looking to cut. “Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away,” Mr. Kempczinski said.
McDonald’s employs more than 150,000 people globally in corporate roles and its owned restaurants, with 70% of them located outside of the U.S., the chain said in February.
McDonald’s in the message acknowledged that the week of April 3 would be a busy one for personal travel, which it said contributed to the decision to deliver the news remotely …
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