ѳٴDzԲBԪַs has closed its U.S. offices through Wednesday and told its corporate staff to work remotely as it prepares to announce a round of layoffs.
In a memo to workers posted on the website TheLayoff.com, the Chicago-based burger giant said it wanted to BԪַensure the comfort and confidentiality of our people during the notification periodBԪַ and would hold all notification meetings virtually. It told international corporate staff to follow guidance in their particular regions.
The company said in the memo that the layoffs are intended to make ѳٴDzԲBԪַs more efficient.
BԪַWe have a clear opportunity ahead of us to get faster and more effective at solving problems for our customers and people and to globally scale our successful market innovations at speed,BԪַ the company said.
ѳٴDzԲBԪַs declined to comment on the memo or the layoffs on Monday. The memo was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Though the U.S. labor market remains strong, layoffs have been mounting, r, where many companies over-hired after a pandemic boom. IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months.
There have been cuts .
Most of those job cuts are at corporate offices. There are still shortages of workers to fill service jobs, such as those at ѳٴDzԲBԪַs restaurants.
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have forecast the unemployment rate may rise to 4.6% by the end of this year, a sizable increase historically associated with recessions.
ѳٴDzԲBԪַs has more than 150,000 employees in corporate roles and in company-owned restaurants. About 70% of those employees are based outside the United States.
ѳٴDzԲBԪַs shares rose just under 1% Monday. The was flat at $23.2 billion for the full year in 2022, but its net income fell 18%, partly due to the sale of its business in Russia.
ѳٴDzԲBԪַs that layoffs would be coming as it tried to get more nimble and break down walls between its global markets. In a January memo to employees, ѳٴDzԲBԪַs President and CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company was evaluating roles and staffing levels in various parts of the company.
BԪַWe have historically been very decentralized in some areas where we reinvent the wheel way too often,BԪַ Kempczinski said during a January conference call with investors. BԪַAnd I think the other thing IBԪַve seen is we havenBԪַt been as sharp around our global priorities, and so thereBԪַs been proliferation of priorities.BԪַ
In one market, Kempczinski said he had recently discovered a list of 300 separate priorities.
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This story corrects a previous version that said ѳٴDzԲBԪַs has 150,000 corporate employees. It has 150,000 employees in corporate roles and in company-owned restaurants.
Dee-ann Durbin, The Associated Press
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