Starbucks Cutting 600 Jobs, Many In Seattle

The Seattle Times:

Starbucks said Thursday it is cutting about 600 positions, some through attrition and about 220 through layoffs. No in-store employees were laid off, and the cuts are separate from Starbucks‘ plan to close about 100 underperforming U.S. stores this year.

Many of the lost jobs, including about a third of the layoffs, are at Starbucks‘ Seattle headquarters.

The moves are part of Howard Schultz’s effort to turn around the company, whose U.S. operations and stock price have suffered the past year. Starbucks‘ board ousted former Chief Executive Jim Donald last month and reinstated Schultz as the company’s top boss.

Since then, he has decided to retrain in-store employees, offer free Wi-Fi to certain customers and stop selling warmed breakfast sandwiches.