McDonald’s to lay off staff to become ‘faster, more innovative, efficient’

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a memo to employees on Friday that the company is planning to lay off some of its staff.

“We will evaluate roles and staffing levels in parts of the organization and there will be difficult discussions and decisions ahead,” Kempszinski said. “Certain initiatives will be de-prioritized or stopped altogether. This will help us move faster as an organization, while reducing our global costs and freeing up resources to invest in our growth.”

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McDonald’s served more customers via takeaway in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and sales have sky-rocketed over the past year as inflation set in, sending people scurrying for cheaper options.

But the company is not satisfied, and the CEO has outlined a plan to break internal barriers, become more innovative, and reduce unnecessary work not in line with the company’s priorities.

“While there’s a lot for us to be proud of, you’ve also told us that there’s more we can do,” Kempczinski wrote to employees. “We’re performing at a high level, but we can do even better.”

“Faster, more innovative, more efficient”

Faster, more innovative, and more efficient is the new mantra, he said. In an interview to Wall Street Journal, Kempczinski said that means there will be layoffs.

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“Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away.”

Plans are afoot to communicate future staffing plans by April 3.

Wall Street Journal reported Kempczinski saying that the company would save money but does not yet have a set figure for how many employees would be shown the door.

At the end of 2021, McDonald’s had around 200,000 corporate staff and workers at company-run restaurants, according to its latest annual report. More than 75% of workers were based abroad rather than in the United States. More than two million people are employed at McDonald’s franchised outlets the world over.

(With agency inputs)