McDonald's has more than 150,000 employees in corporate roles and company-owned restaurants, with about 70% based outside the United States.
Layoffs have been rising, particularly in the technology sector, where many companies over-hired after a pandemic boom. Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months, while cuts have also occurred in other sectors.
The majority of these job cuts are at corporate offices, while there is still a shortage of workers to fill service jobs, such as those at McDonald's restaurants.
McDonald's shares rose just under 1% on Monday, and its revenue was flat at $23.2 billion for the full year in 2022. However, its net income fell by 18%, partly due to the sale of its business in Russia. McDonald's warned employees in January that layoffs would be forthcoming as it tried to get more nimble and break down walls between its global markets.
McDonald's President and CEO Chris Kempczinski stated in a January memo that the company was evaluating roles and staffing levels in different parts of the company.
Kempczinski said during a January conference call with investors that the company had historically been very decentralized in some areas, where it reinvented the wheel way too often. He also revealed that the company hadn't been as sharp around its global priorities, resulting in a proliferation of priorities. Kempczinski said he had recently discovered a list of 300 separate priorities in one market.
In conclusion, the memo from McDonald's posted on TheLayoff.com announced its temporary closure of U.S. offices and corporate staff's remote work, preparing to announce a round of layoffs, aiming to make McDonald's more efficient. The company is evaluating roles and staffing levels in various parts of the company to get more nimble and break down walls between its global markets.