Starbucks Announces Third Round of Layoffs, Plans to Close Regional Support Offices

Starbucks on Friday announced another round of corporate layoffs and said it plans to shutter some regional support offices as part of its ongoing turnaround. The company said it will cut 300 U.S. jobs, adding it has started a review of its international corporate workforce. The layoffs do not affect its coffeehouse employees. The combined severance costs and reassessment of its office space will result in restructuring charges of $400 million, the coffee chain said. Starbucks expects to record $280 million in noncash charges related to the impairment of long-lived assets and $120 million in cash charges tied to the job cuts. "We are taking further action under the Back to Starbucks strategy, building on our strong business momentum and working to return the company to durable, profitable growth," a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. "Leaders have taken a hard look at their respective functions to further sharpen focus, prioritize work, reduce complexity, and lower costs." Friday's announcement marks Starbucks' third round of layoffs since CEO Brian Niccol took the helm. In February 2025, Niccol said that the company would cut 1,100 jobs and not fill several hundred other open positions. Seven months later, the company announced another 900 job losses for its nonretail workers as part of a $1 billion restructuring plan. Starbucks had 19,000 U.S. nonretail workers and 5,000 international employees working in regional support operations roles as of Sept. 28, 2025, according to a regulatory filing. During Niccol's tenure, the company has embarked on an expensive — and fruitful — turnaround of its U.S. business. The coffee giant's sales slumped as increased competition and more budget-conscious consumers weighed on demand for its drinks. Under Niccol, Starbucks has improved cafe operations, added buzzy new menu items, reintroduced seating to its locations and beefed up staffing at its coffeehouses. For its latest quarter, the company reported that U.S. same-store sales grew 7.1%, fueled by a 4.3% increase in transactions. It was the second straight quarter of traffic growth for Starbucks' U.S. cafes, signaling that the company's comeback plan was working. "This quarter marked a milestone for Starbucks – and the turn in our turnaround," Niccol said in a video posted alongside the company's fiscal second-quarter results in April.