Last Monday, McDonald’s became another major company to announce layoffs amidst looming recession fears. In an internal email sent out, the mega-chain notified corporate employees and some overseas workers to stay home as they would be informing staff about their job statuses and closing offices for a few days. Earlier this year, McDonald’s released a strategic plan titled ‘Accelerating The Arches’ which detailed their growth strategy in the next chapter; now, potentially hundreds of employees are facing layoffs and pay cuts as they reign in this next chapter.
READ MORE: Big Mac Prices Have Gone Up And McDonald’s Customers Aren’t Happy About It
McDonald's To Cut Jobs In Their 'Accelerating The Arches' Chapter
When McDonald's lassoed in employees with their "Accelerate The Arches" strategic plan this January, they mentioned three areas of growth: marketing, core items (like coffee, burgers, and chicken), and the four Ds, which included delivery, drive-thru, digital, and development. Now, as reported by Fox Business, McDonald's is making job cuts left and right in the U.S. and abroad, which include departments like marketing and operations—areas that previously seemed essential in their strategic plan.
Still, while layoffs are certainly disappointing for employees, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski warned job cuts were imminent as part of their strategy to move forward back in January.
"We will evaluate roles and staffing levels in parts of the organization and there will be difficult discussions and decisions ahead," Kempszinski said in an internal memo to employees. "Certain initiatives will be de-prioritized or stopped altogether. This will help us move faster as an organization while reducing our global costs and freeing up resources to invest in our growth."
"Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away," he warned. “We’re performing at a high level, but we can do even better."
McDonald’s temporarily shuts down US offices & are preparing for massive corporate layoffs! pic.twitter.com/3raJjTSEfE
— SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) April 3, 2023
McDonald's Layoffs Will Affect Corporate Employees
McDonald's has yet to publicly comment on the layoffs, and it's uncertain if they will, but employees have leaked their layoffs online. According to the internal memo and reports from those affected, the layoffs are affecting the corporate workforce, which makes sense as fast food restaurants are struggling to keep service workers.
As reported by Fox Business, some people were offered to stay at the company but would receive pay and benefit cuts, including changes to titles and lessened bonuses and equity grants. U.S. employees impacted by layoffs will exit the company but will remain on the payroll until June 15, and after that can receive severance, according to a person familiar with the matter. Those with company cars will also have to return the vehicles or have the option to buy them from the company.
Veteran employees were laid off from the golden arches, including some directors and senior staff who had been for the company for twenty years.
One longtime director of the chain for over 20 years bid their final goodbye writing: "This is not good-bye – But a ‘see you later’ note – I’m cheering for you."
Another former operations lead, who held field positions and operations roles in the company for over 19 years, wrote, " My love for the brand McDonald's is still unwavering despite the current outcome. Besides, we never know what the future may hold, except that the arches will forever shine bright."
McDonald's To Layoff Workers Despite Sales Increasing
After the pandemic, companies over-hired to respond to exceeding demand as COVID-19 restrictions eased. Now, companies, particularly in the tech world, are backtracking in order to make up for losses and strategically align as inflation rises and economic uncertainty prevails.
Amazon, Google, Meta, Twitter, and Doordash are all among the companies that have announced massive layoffs in the past few months.
Largest Layoffs of 2023, So far:
— Eunice D Wong 🦄 (@Eunicedwong) April 4, 2023
Amazon: 27,000 employees
Google: 12,000
Meta: 10,000
Microsoft: 10,000
Goldman Sachs: 3,200
Coinbase: 25%
Zoom: 15%
Glassdoor: 15%
Twilio: 15%
Indeed: 15%
LendingClub: 14%
Vimeo: 11%
Docusign: 10%
Salesforce: 10%
Gemini: 10%
McDonald's shut…
Despite nipping jobs from the workforce, McDonald's has not seen a loss in sales. The company reported that global sales rose nearly 11% in 2022. Sales in the U.S. climbed almost 6%. That wasn't enough for the corporation though, as CEO Chris Kempczinski stated back in January, “We’re not satisfied. That’s the hallmark of McDonald’s.”
