Starbucks has confirmed it is laying off a “relatively small number” of employees at its headquarters in Seattle.
Spokeswoman Linda Mills would not disclose how many people were affected, but said that it was a small portion of the 3,500 employees based in the office. The layoffs started at the beginning of the year and will continue to take place through February.
Starbucks is targeting jobs “that are no longer aligned to our growth strategy or that have become redundant with other roles,” she said, adding that the layoffs are taking place across the board.
No store-based roles will be affected by the changes, and due to the large number of openings at hundreds of stores across the country, Mills points out that Starbucks will actually be creating thousands of new U.S.-based jobs in 2015.
Starbucks is constantly tinkering with all aspects of the business from latte flavors to what kind of tea it sells in stores to new ways to place orders in the store.
Last month, it launched a new mobile ordering feature in Portland, and as part of that pilot, GeekWire talked to Starbucks Digital Chief Adam Brotman, who described very aggressive plans for rolling out that technology worldwide.
Mills would not say if the company’s tech workers would be impacted by the cuts, although presumably they will be if the layoffs are truly being made across the board.
“This was a very difficult decision, and for partners (employees) impacted by these moves, we will do everything we can to try and find alternative roles for them within the company,” she said. “As a company, we are and will continue to manage our business for the long term and in a way that balances our performance through the lens of humanity.”
A week ago, Starbucks announced that COO Troy Alstead was going on sabbatical, and was forced to immediately dispel suggestions that Alstead was leaving because of his health or because of the company’s performance, Bloomberg reported. Alstead is widely considered a contender to succeed CEO Howard Schultz.
Mills said the staffing changes were also completely unrelated to Alstead’s departure.
