Starbucks to lay off 900 employees, close some locations

Starbucks is undergoing a $1 billion restructuring effort in North America, which will involve closing about 500 stores and cutting hundreds of corporate jobs.

The company aims to revitalize growth in its largest market by focusing on remodeling existing locations and improving the customer experience.

The plan includes offering transfers or severance pay to affected workers and is part of CEO Brian Niccol’s broader initiative called Back to Starbucks.

“During the review, we identified coffeehouses where we’re unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed,” Brian Niccol, CEO of Starbucks, wrote in the post.

Despite the significant costs involved, Niccol is confident that the overhaul will position Starbucks as a leading customer-centric company in the long term.

In response, Workers United said it was a sign that “things are only going backwards at Starbucks under Brian Niccol’s leadership”.

“Yet again, we’re experiencing new policies and major decisions being made with zero barista input,” the union said in a statement