Brinker lays off 155 employeesBrinker lays off 155 employees

Ron Ruggless

DALLAS Brinker International Inc., parent to the Chili’s Grill & Bar casual-dining chain, confirmed Monday that it laid off about 155 workers last week, including 55 in the corporate office here.

“I can confirm that approximately 55 individual positions were eliminated at the Brinker restaurant support center in Dallas and more than 100 operations positions in the field,” said Stacey Sullivan, spokeswoman for the company.

She noted that Brinker has 8,500 full- and part-time positions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and about 1,000 employees at the restaurant support center. The company employs about 100,000 worldwide.

The layoffs came after Brinker said late last month that it would be closing an additional 35 restaurants by mid-March. The company in December completed the sale of a majority interest in its Romano’s Macaroni Grill chain, and it has been re-franchising a number of company-owned restaurants over the past year. During its latest December-ended quarter it closed 47 restaurants, including 26 Macaroni Grills.

“These difficult decisions were made to align resources at our restaurant support center in Dallas with our current business model, which includes three core brands, and mix of company-owned and franchise restaurants operating in the United States and overseas,” Sullivan said.

She added, “Impacted individuals receive a variety of transitional support services, including severance packages, benefits continuation and outplacement assistance. Most importantly, we are doing everything we can provide our former team members with the utmost dignity and respect.”

Brinker operates and franchises more than 1,700 Chili’s Grill & Bar, Maggiano’s Little Italy and On The Border Grill & Cantina restaurants.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].