Starbucks To Lay Off Selection Of Employees At Corporate Headquarters In Seattle

Corporate lay-offs have hit McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and now Starbucks is the latest company to announce that it will either lay off or reassign "a relatively small number" of employees at its Seattle headquarters, Starbucks announced in a statement.

Starbucks will eliminate "positions that are no longer aligned with its growth strategy, or are redundant with other roles within the company," company spokesperson Linda Mills confirmed to Nation's Restaurant News.

It was not made clear how many employees would be affected by the shift in corporate strategy. Where possible, a number of employees will be given different positions within the company over the coming weeks.

Individual Starbucks locations will not be affected by the corporate lay-offs, and the company's expansion plans include approximately 1,650 new units in the fiscal 2015, including 650 locations in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

Recently, Starbucks chief operating officer, a 23-year veteran of the company, announced that he would take an extended, unpaid leave from the company beginning in March, which is expected to result in a transition in corporate management strategy as well. Details are expected during the company's upcoming first-quarter earnings call later this month.