Starbucks cuts 300 US corporate jobs

Starbucks said on May 15 that it will eliminate 300 U.S. corporate jobs and close four regional support offices as Chief Executive Brian Niccol presses ahead with a broader turnaround. The company said the cuts do not affect baristas or other in-store employees. Starbucks also said it expects to record about $400 million in fiscal 2026 restructuring charges tied to the move. The announcement extends a support-organization overhaul Niccol had signaled months earlier as part of the company’s “Back to Starbucks” plan. ### Which offices are closing, and who is affected? Starbucks said the offices being closed are in Atlanta, Burbank, Chicago and Dallas. The company said the 300 eliminated roles are in the United States and are part of its regional support organization. Reuters and CNBC reported that store workers are not included in the cuts. (money.usnews.com) CNBC reported that the affected functions include support areas such as marketing, human resources and supply chain. Bloomberg reported the positions are spread across the United States, including Seattle headquarters, though Starbucks did not publicly break out the jobs by site in the company materials surfaced in investor filings and statements. (money.usnews.com) ### Why is Starbucks taking another pass at corporate staffing? Brian Niccol said in a company message published in January that Starbucks needed to “meaningfully change” how support teams are organized and how they work. In that message, he said the company’s size and structure could slow decision-making, citing too many layers, managers of small teams and roles focused mainly on coordinating work. He also said the changes would not affect in-store teams or the labor-hour investments going into stores. (finance.yahoo.com) A June 4, 2025 company update showed Niccol had already begun reshaping the management structure, including changes to reporting lines for operations, supply chain, brand and technology leaders. That earlier reorganization was framed as part of the same “Back to Starbucks” effort to move faster and tighten accountability. (about.starbucks.com) ### How large is the charge Starbucks expects to take? Starbucks said the latest actions will result in about $400 million of restructuring charges in fiscal 2026. CNBC, citing the company, reported that roughly $280 million will be non-cash charges tied to long-lived asset impairments and about $120 million will be cash charges primarily related to employee separation costs. (investor.starbucks.com) Starbucks had already disclosed in its filings that the broader “Back to Starbucks” restructuring plan carries a much larger cost. A restructuring note in the company’s filings said Starbucks estimated about $1.0 billion in total pre-tax restructuring charges related to the plan, inclusive of fiscal 2025 charges, in addition to $137 million incurred from restructuring activities in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. (cnbc.com) ### How does this fit with Starbucks’ recent results? Starbucks reported on April 28 that second-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue rose 9% to $9.5 billion and that global comparable store sales increased 6.2%. The company said U.S. comparable store sales rose 7.1%, driven by higher transactions and average ticket, and Niccol said on the investor relations page that the second quarter marked “the turn” in the company’s turnaround. (sec.gov) Starbucks said it had 41,129 stores at the end of the quarter, including 16,944 in the United States. The company also said in the April earnings release that management had approved a plan in March to relocate certain support functions to an additional office, a separate step from the office closures disclosed on May 15. (investor.starbucks.com) ### What comes next after the U.S. cuts? Starbucks said on May 15 that it has started a review of its international support organization and expects additional job cuts outside the United States. Reuters reported that the company is reviewing corporate roles abroad as part of the same effort. May 29 is Starbucks’ next dated corporate milestone already on the calendar: the company said its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.62 per share payable then to shareholders of record on May 15. (investor.starbucks.com) Starbucks’ investor relations site also lists its latest quarterly filing set from April 28, including the second-quarter earnings release, transcript and Form 10-Q. (money.usnews.com)