McDonald’s has temporarily closed its US offices as it gears up for a round of corporate layoffs.
The fast food giant has told US and some international employees to work from home from Monday, April 3, to Wednesday, April 5, to make staffing decisions virtually.
An internal email last week also told staff to cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and other outside parties at its headquarters.
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The company said: “During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization.”
In January, McDonald’s announced plans to take “difficult” decisions about changes to its corporate staffing level by April.
CEO Chris Kempczinski said back then that the workforce review would reduce costs.
But, he added that he did not have a specific dollar amount or the number of jobs to be axed in mind.
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Mr. Kempczinski said: “Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away.”
McDonald’s has over 150,000 workers in corporate positions and its owned restaurants, with 70 percent based in non-US countries.
It noted in the message that the week of April 3 would be the busiest for personal travel, contributing to the decision to break the news remotely.
The company said employees without computer access during the week have to give personal contact details to their manager.
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It said: “We want to ensure the comfort and confidentiality of our people during the notification period.”
Companies across industries are lowering their ranks as the economy worsens.
Amazon announced another batch of layoffs last month, terminating 9,000 more people.
McDonald’s didn’t reveal the number of jobs slashed.
Source: The Wall Street Journal