McDonald's Temporarily Closes US Offices Ahead of Layoffs

Facts

• McDonald’s Corp. has temporarily closed its US offices and started informing employees about layoffs as part of a broader company restructuring.¹
• US employees and some international staff were told to work from home Monday through Wednesday, so that the company could deliver staffing decisions virtually.²
• This comes as the fast-food giant announced an updated growth strategy, called Accelerating the Arches 2.0., in January. CEO Chris Kempcinski also hinted at the revamp, saying, 'As part of this work, we will evaluate roles and staffing levels.'³
• The restructuring will also reportedly see some employees begin new roles or receive promotions, with this number expected to surpass the number of layoffs, which won't include the 2M-plus workers in franchised restaurants.⁴
• McDonald’s — which has more than 150k employees, 70% of whom aren't based in the US — is one of several companies, including many in the tech industry, such as Meta and Amazon, to announce layoffs in recent months.⁵
• McDonald’s, however, is performing well financially. The company hasn't disclosed the number of layoffs, but it reportedly will be in the hundreds.⁴

Sources: ¹Wall Street Journal, ²FOX News, ³Yahoo finance, ⁴Voa and ⁵Guardian.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Flipboard. McDonald’s layoffs are the latest in a tidal wave of dismissals across massive multinational corporations – a bad sign for the fast-food industry and the economy at large. Despite being a historically stable industry, the fast-food market is not immune to the problems plaguing the overall economy. It seems that copycat layoffs are the new norm leading to thousands losing their jobs.
• Narrative B, as provided by Barrons. McDonald’s layoffs aren't alarming for the company or the fast-food industry. While these decisions are unfortunate, companies are focusing on maximizing efficiency and reducing labor costs. McDonald’s is still performing very well, and the layoffs will not have an impact on revenue. In fact, markets are responding well to them.