McDonald’s Lays off Hundreds of Corporate Employees Amid Restructuring

A weeklong, multipart series of layoffs and other changes reportedly impacted hundreds of McDonald’s employees.

As part of its restructuring, the quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain laid off hundreds of corporate employees, reduced the compensation packages of others and closed field offices, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Friday (April 7), citing unnamed sources and internal company emails.

Reached by phone, a McDonald’s spokesperson told PYMNTS the company has no comment on the report.

It was reported Sunday (April 2) that McDonald’s would be closing its offices across the U.S. Monday through Wednesday as it virtually informed corporate employees about layoffs.

The company did not specify at the time how many or what types of positions would be affected.

According to Friday’s WSJ report, the changes made during the restructuring focused on white-collar employees and reached across the company’s departments, both in the United States and abroad, according to the report.

Several firms have been cutting white-collar jobs in recent months.

It was reported Monday (April 3) that Apple is reducing the number of roles on its corporate retail teams, focusing on its development and preservation teams that are responsible for the construction and upkeep of Apple stores and other facilities.

On March 28, it was reported that Disney was shuttering its metaverse business as part of a plan that could shrink the firm’s headcount by about 7,000. CEO Bob Iger had made it clear a month earlier that Disney’s massive restructuring aims to cut costs and restore profitability.

Amazon, too, has made a series of job cuts. The firm announced March 20 that it would lay off 9,000 employees — primarily in its cloud computing, Twitch livestream and advertising departments — on top of the 18,000 positions it eliminated in January.

This week’s layoffs by McDonald’s are the latest in a series dating back to 2018, at which time the company said it was aiming to be “more dynamic, nimble and competitive,” per the WSJ report.

Amid the latest changes, McDonald’s also made about 10 role changes and promotions among officers in operations, marketing and finance, the report said.

“While the McDonald’s Brand is in the strongest position it has been in years, we also recognize that our business has grown increasingly complex in recent years,” McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger said, per the report.