Starbucks’ organizational changes are expected to be revealed in March. | Photo: Shutterstock.
Starbucks plans to eliminate jobs in its support teams across the world as part of an effort to improve efficiency inside its operations, the company said on Friday.
In a letter to the system, CEO Brian Niccol said that the company needs to operate faster and more efficiently. He said the company has started defining its support organization of the future and expects to communicate those changes by March.
“We will have job eliminations and smaller support teams moving forward,” Niccol said. He said that the changes “will not affect our in-store teams or the investments we are making in store hours.”
Starbucks would not say how many jobs could get eliminated.
It’s the latest in a string of letters from Niccol detailing everything from the departure of a longtime director to a new mission statement to a new code of conduct to his overall vision for the company, as Starbucks works on an extensive turnaround plan.
The company has largely focused on the U.S. and Canada, but Niccol said that Starbucks also needs to “transform our business globally” and “examine the role, structure and size of our support teams across the world.”
“We have some opportunities to operate more efficiently,” he said.
Niccol said that all the company’s work needs “a clear owner, who can make decisions and who is accountable for achieving the goals.” That would enable the company to move faster, he said.
He also said the company needs “clear priorities and reduced complexity” to keep it focused on the chain’s “Back to Starbucks” plan.
And Niccol said that the company’s support teams need to “reduce silos and duplication of effort.”
“Our size and structure can slow us down, with too many layers, managers of small teams and roles focused primarily on coordinating work,” Niccol said.
Niccol was hired last year from Chipotle to oversee a turnaround following one of the toughest periods in company history, as sales and traffic declines in both the U.S. and China led to broad questions about the chain’s prices and complexity.
Such turnaround efforts are often followed by layoffs and organizational changes. McDonald’s instituted multiple rounds of layoffs after a management overhaul in 2015, for instance. And Niccol’s Chipotle moved corporate headquarters from Denver to Newport Beach, California, in part to change the makeup of the staff.
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