Starbucks is the latest major American company to lay off a significant number of its white-collar workforce.
The coffee giant said Friday it was cutting 300 U.S. corporate employees, citing the need “to return the company to durable, profitable growth,” according to a CNBC report. Retail employees were not affected.
Friday’s layoffs represent around 3 percent of the company’s roughly 9,000 white-collar workers. Regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and other locations will be closed, according to CBS News.
These are the latest corporate cuts under CEO Brian Niccol, who came to Starbucks in August 2024. Some 2,300 corporate employees have been let go in three rounds of layoffs since February 2025, CNBC reported. The Independent contacted Starbucks for comment.
The layoffs are part of a $1 billion restructure the company announced in September.
In part, the restructuring focused on freeing up work hours for baristas and improving customers’ in-store experience.
“As we build toward a better Starbucks, we’re investing in green apron partner hours, more partners in stores, exceptional customer service, elevated coffeehouse designs, and innovation to create the future,” Niccol said in a September 25 statement about the restructuring.
The following day, 900 corporate employees were notified they were laid off.
Niccol joined Starbucks after former CEO Laxman Narasimha failed to produce the results the company was looking for during his 18-month tenure. Within a week of the hiring, the company’s stock rose nearly 30 percent.
Starbucks brought in Niccol to transform the company with an effectiveness similar to what he showed at his previous company, Chipotle. During his six years as CEO at the fast-casual restaurant, revenue doubled and Chipotle’s stock price rose 800 percent.
Starbucks is one of several well-known companies to recently layoff parts of its corporate workforce. On Tuesday, Walmart announced it was laying off or relocating 1,000 corporate employees to “simplify how the work is organized, make ownership clearer, and better align roles to the work and skills we need going forward.”
In January, Amazon revealed plans to lay off 16,000 corporate employees in a move that came just months after CEO Andy Jassy said the company planned to prune its corporate workforce as AI helped boost efficiency.
