McDonald’s has closed its U.S. offices through Wednesday and told its corporate staff to work remotely as it prepares to announce a round of layoffs. In a memo to workers posted on the website TheLayoff.com, the Chicago-based burger giant said it wanted to “ensure the comfort and confidentiality of our people during the notification period” and would hold all notification meetings virtually.
According to ABC7News, It told international corporate staff to follow guidance in their particular regions. The company said in the memo that the layoffs are intended to make McDonald’s more efficient. “We have a clear opportunity ahead of us to get faster and more effective at solving problems for our customers and people and to globally scale our successful market innovations at speed,” the company said.
McDonald’s declined to comment on the memo or the layoffs on Monday. The memo was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Though the U.S. labor market remains strong, layoffs have been mounting, mainly in the technology secto r, where many companies over-hired after a pandemic boom.
IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months. There have been cuts in other sectors as well. Most of those job cuts are at corporate offices. There are still shortages of workers to fill service jobs, such as those at McDonald’s restaurants.
Meanwhile, according to INV, About 5,000 General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) salaried workers took buyouts to leave the company, putting the company well on the way to hitting a $2 billion cost-cutting target, the automaker’s chief financial officer said Tuesday.
GM shares were trading down 2.1% in afternoon trading, even though CFO Paul Jacobson said demand for GM’s trucks and SUVs remains strong in the United States.
GM has been able to raise prices in the United States over the past two years as supply chain bottlenecks kept production in check. Going forward, Jacobson said the opportunity to boost prices much further “isn’t there. We have to be more urgent around cost-cutting.”
GM set a goal of cutting $2 billion from operating costs by the end of 2024, with 30%-50% of the total being achieved this year. The response to a buyout program means GM will be at the higher end of that 2023 goal, Jacobson said during a Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) conference.
GM CEO Mary Barra said in a memo to employees on Tuesday seen by Reuters that February job cuts of a few hundred jobs and 5,000 buyouts “have provided approximately $1 billion towards” the $2 billion target. She added “a company-wide involuntary separation program is not a consideration at this point.”
GM will cut production to keep inventories in check, Jacobson said. The automaker earlier this year shut down a pickup truck assembly factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for two weeks.
GM will take a $1 billion charge in the first quarter, he said. The company had previously projected $1.5 billion in charges related to staff reductions.
