McDonald’s, in a rather pre-decided move, has closed its corporate offices as it prepares for layoffs as a part of its broader restructuring plans. Many have been asked to work from home and cancel all in-person meetings scheduled earlier.
Employees from a dozen offices have been asked to work remotely while layoffs announcements go out. “During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organizations,” the Chicago-based company said in a message.
However, the company was not ready to share any further information on the matter. The burger giant has 150,000 employees in its corporate workforce and in its non-franchised restaurants. Incidentally, more than half of these employees work outside the United States. In all, McD has 2 million employees at its franchised restaurants.
In fact, the layoffs come as McDonald’s embarks on a restructuring plan called “Accelerating the Arches 2.0”. While it has 38,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries, it plans to add 1900 locations in 2023. However, McD is doing it at a time at a moment of relative strength.
The cuts are alongside companies like Amazon, Meta, Salesforce, Microsoft, and Google, who hired belligerently during the pandemic. However, the trend has trickled down to companies like J Crew, 3M, Dow, and Disney.
