Starbucks is cutting about 300 U.S. corporate support jobs and closing four regional offices as part of a wider restructuring that is reshaping how the world’s largest coffee chain organizes its back-of-house operations even as its cafes report rising sales, according to filings and media reports published in May 2026.
The layoffs, announced on 15 May and approved by the Board of Directors two days earlier, affect U.S. nonretail support roles and include the closure of regional support offices in Atlanta, Burbank, Chicago and Dallas, CNBC and local outlets reported. A Starbucks spokesperson told CNBC and FOX Business that the move is part of the company’s “Back to Starbucks” strategy to “sharpen focus, prioritize work, reduce complexity, and lower costs,” and confirmed that coffeehouse retail employees are not included in this round of cuts.
According to a 13 May Form 8‑K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, cited by CNBC, the restructuring carries total charges of $400 million, including $280 million in non‑cash asset impairment and $120 million in cash severance costs. As of 28 September 2025, Starbucks employed roughly 9,000 nonretail workers in the United States and 5,000 international staff in regional support roles, CNBC reported from prior regulatory disclosures, underscoring the scale of the corporate workforce under review.
The latest restructuring builds on earlier corporate cuts under CEO Brian Niccol. Starbucks had already eliminated 1,100 corporate jobs in February 2025 and a further 900 later that year, according to CNBC’s summary of previous announcements. In a video released with fiscal second‑quarter results in April 2026, Niccol said, “This quarter marked a milestone for Starbucks – and the turn in our turnaround,” as the company outlined broader efficiency efforts.
Despite the headcount reductions, Starbucks’ U.S. stores have recently posted improving results. For its latest fiscal second quarter, U.S. same‑store sales rose 7.1% with a 4.3% increase in transactions, marking a second consecutive quarter of traffic growth, CNBC reported in April. Analysts cited by industry coverage viewed the layoffs as a cost‑control measure within the broader “Back to Starbucks” turnaround, which aims for $2 billion in cost savings, according to the SEC filing and a January 2026 press release summarized by Nasdaq.
Real estate is a central piece of the restructuring. A Starbucks spokesperson told CNBC and FOX Business the company is “streamlining our real estate footprint including consolidating U.S. regional support office space and taking several other steps with leases and lease commitments.” While those regional offices close, most affected U.S. support staff are expected to transition to remote work, according to WSBTV/Yahoo and AOL coverage of local WARN notices.
At the same time, Starbucks is shifting where it concentrates its corporate presence. Industry outlet Restaurant Business reported in April that the company plans to invest $100 million in a new office hub in Nashville, Tennessee, opening a temporary site soon and a permanent facility in 2027 that is expected to employ up to 2,000 corporate workers. Separate notices cited by Reuters and AOL show 61 technology roles in cybersecurity, engineering and product management are being cut at the Seattle Support Center between 20 June and 28 August 2026, and a March WARN notice detailed the closure of five Seattle stores with 69 barista and shift supervisor layoffs, some in unionized locations.
The restructuring also extends to Starbucks’ international business. The SEC filing and a January 2026 Nasdaq‑summarized press release state that Starbucks is repositioning its overseas operations toward a model where nearly 90% of coffeehouses outside the United States are licensed rather than directly operated. A Starbucks spokesperson told FOX Business the company is “reviewing our international support organization as we focus on being a world-class licensor and expect additional role impacts outside the U.S.”
Starbucks said in its May 13 SEC filing that it expects the majority of approved restructuring actions, including office closures and related layoffs, to be completed by the end of its 2026 fiscal year. According to AOL and regional coverage of pending state notifications, additional U.S. WARN filings linked to the regional office closures are expected, while the Nashville expansion proceeds on a separate track.
