McDonald's (MCD) will temporarily close its U.S. corporate offices this week as it plans to lay off an undisclosed number of workers as part of a larger restructuring effort, per the Wall Street Journal.
In an internal memo, McDonald's told employees that they should work from home Monday to Wednesday while it virtually informs impacted staff. The company also told employees to cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and outside parties at the headquarters.
Yahoo Finance reached out to McDonald's but didn't receive a comment.
McDonald's shares are mostly flat after hitting a record intraday high of $281.65.
This larger revamp happening at McDonald's hones in on restaurant growth, operation efficiency, effectiveness and innovation.
Back in January, McDonald's announced Accelerating the Arches 2.0, an update to its growth strategy. With that, the company added a second D to its M-C-D strategy (maximizing marketing, committing to the chain's core products of burgers, chicken and coffee and delivery, drive-thru and digital). The fourth D stands for restaurant development.
CEO Chris Kempcinski hinted at the revamp and the impact on its workforce in a memo in early January. In that memo to global employees, he outlined a new effort called Accelerating the Organization (AtO).
"As part of this work, we will evaluate roles and staffing levels in parts of the organization and there will be difficult discussions and decisions ahead….We expect to finalize and begin to communicate key decisions by April 3," he said.
The memo later said that as the company stood it was "divided" with silos and its approach was "outdated and self-limiting...trying to solve the same problems multiple times"
As part of the restaurant growth pillar, the company announced plans to open 1,900 new locations this year. More than 400 of the new Golden Arches will be in the U.S. or in its internationally operated markets, including Germany, Canada, France, Australia, Canada, and the U.K. The remaining 1,500 will be in developmental licensee and affiliate markets, including 900 in China.
In addition, McDonald's tapped Chipotle (CMG) executive Tabassum Zalotrawala to be its new chief development officer and oversee this growth. Zalotrawala was credited with overseeing Chipotle's restaurant growth and driving its drive-thru strategy.
Last quarter, McDonald's posted a beat across the board, though is seeing lower-income consumers focus more on value. The company is set to report its next earnings report on August 25.
Layoffs have taken a toll across multiple sectors. Last week, Amazon announced additional job cuts, in addition to Disney and Walmart, among others.
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Brooke DiPalma is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.
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