McDonald's Corp. temporarily closed its U.S. offices Monday through Wednesday as it prepared to inform corporate employees about layoffs as part of a company restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In an email last week, Chicago-based McDonald's asked U.S. employees and some international staff to work from home so it could deliver staffing decisions virtually, said the Wall Street Journal Sunday report, which was picked up by Reuters. It was unclear how many employees might eventually be laid off.
The burger brand, in the message viewed by the Journal, said: "During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization.”
McDonald's also asked employees to cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and other outside parties at its headquarters, the report added.
Earlier, in a reported interview with the Wall Street Journal, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski confirmed that “some” jobs would be reorganized or cut all together.
Kempczinski also announced new leadership appointments, effective Feb. 1.
The leadership changes included the promotion of Morgan Flatley to executive vice president, global chief marketing officer and new business ventures; the promotion of Skye Anderson to president, global business services – a new unit that oversees the finance and global people functions with expectations to eventually include marketing, development, supply chain and technology as well; Andrew Gregory was named senior vice president of global franchising and development; and Spero Droulias was named senior vice president, chief transformation officer.
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