McDonald’s temporarily shuts U.S. offices ahead of layoff notices – WSJ

By Scott Kanowsky 

Investing.com — McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:) is temporarily shuttering its U.S. offices this week before a planned round of layoffs, the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend.

According to the paper, the burger chain told workers in the U.S. and some international staff that they should work from home from Monday to Wednesday so the company can gear up to announce the decisions. All in-person meetings at its headquarters were asked to be canceled, the WSJ said.

Shares in McDonald’s edged higher in premarket U.S. trading on Monday.

In an internal email seen by the WSJ, McDonald’s explained that the move to have employees work remotely stemmed from an expected uptick in personal travel over the coming days. The group added it wanted to “ensure the comfort and confidentiality” of workers during the notification period.

McDonald’s, which has a headcount of over 150,000 in corporate roles and its owned restaurants, declined to comment to the WSJ on the exact number of employees set to lose their jobs.

Earlier this year, McDonald’s flagged that it would need to halt or transition away from certain projects because the sprawling nature of the business led to redundancies and slowing innovation. Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski noted at the time that some jobs will “get moved” or “may go away.”