McDonald’s has temporarily closed its corporate offices and directed staff to work from home as the fast-food giant moves to lay off a number of non-restaurant employees in the coming days.
In January, the company announced a corporate restructuring plan aimed at streamlining its operations, noting that job cuts would likely be part of the plan. It is currently unknown how many employees will be affected.
As AP News previously reported, McDonald’s President and CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors earlier in the year, “We have historically been very decentralized in some areas where we reinvent the wheel way too often.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported that employees were told last week in an email that they should cancel in-person meetings, not come to the office, and instead work from home and await notification from the company about their job status.
“During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,” read the email, per WSJ.
The move comes just as the company hit its all-time high share price ($277.79 at closing) last Thursday, Fox Business reported.
McDonald’s is not alone in reducing costs and streamlining operations. The tech industry has also been hit by layoffs, with companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon announcing job cuts in recent months. Since the beginning of 2023, the tech industry has shed more than 120,000 jobs, according to Tech Crunch.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, Disney also moved to reduce its staff, announcing last month that it was getting rid of roughly 7,000 positions.
Still, despite the belt-tightening that has been happening in some sectors of the economy, the job market continues to be fairly robust.
“Employers are hovering with their feet above the brake. They’re more cautious. They’re more precise in their hiring. But they’ve not stopped hiring,” said Jonas Prising, CEO of the employment agency ManpowerGroup Inc., speaking with the WSJ.
More insights into hiring behavior and the job market should be gleaned Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics is slated to release its assessment of the country’s employment landscape.
