McDonald’s Corporation is temporarily closing its U.S. offices this week as it prepares to lay off corporate employees.
The fast food giant informed American employees and some international staff last week to work remotely from Monday through Wednesday so it could relay staffing decisions virtually, according to an internal email acquired by the Wall Street Journal.
“During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,” the email read.
Employees were given a heads-up regarding the layoffs in January by CEO Chris Kempczinski, who said that “difficult discussions and decisions” will soon be made.
Kempczinski announced the shakeup in a memo to all global employees while introducing the burger corporation’s revamped business plan. Named “Accelerating the Arches 2.0,” it will aim to reorganize and possibly eliminate roles to increase efficiency and innovation, as well as save expenses.
“[We] will evaluate roles and staffing levels in parts of the organization and there will be difficult discussions and decisions ahead,” he wrote, adding that the company plans to inform impacted workers by Monday.
“Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away,” Kempczinski told the Wall Street Journal in January.
As part of its revised plans, McDonald’s will also accelerate the pace of its restaurant openings and said that it may explore further novel ideas aimed at enhancing customer convenience, like the Order Ahead Lane provided at a recently opened site in Forth Worth, Texas.
This comes as McDonald’s closed at a record high on March 30. According to financial author and Seeking Alpha contributor David Zanoni, the fast food chain’s closing price of $277.79 on Thursday was influenced by recent analyst upgrades of the company’s earnings per share from $10.49 to $10.58 in 2023 and from $11.44 to $11.70 in 2024.
According to its most recent annual report, the fast-food business had more than 13,000 outlets in the U.S. and slightly over 40,000 restaurants worldwide as of the end of 2021.
Reporters have reached out to McDonald’s for comment, but they did not immediately return the request.
