Starbucks To Lay-Off 600 Workers In Latest Company Shake-Up

February 22, 2008 12:07 p.m. EST

Seattle, WA (AHN)-In an attempt to boost sales and cut costs, Starbucks has announced it is eliminating some 600 jobs amid the coffee corporation's latest restructuring venture.

Starbucks, which has 170,000 employees worldwide, has recently made a number of company-wide shakeups to help the struggling giant coffee retailer deal with decreased consumer spending, rising labor and product costs, and falling stock values.

In addition to recent cost-cutting moves such as eliminating breakfast sandwiches from its menus, and the preliminary introduction of offering free wireless internet to customers, Starbucks's latest worker layoff is the most recent evidence of the coffee company's struggles.

In a message on its website, Starbucks CEO Howard Schulz said 220 jobs, mostly in Seattle, had already been axed, in addition to eliminating 380 open positions.

Schultz said most of the jobs were in non-retail positions, including finance, design and marketing roles, representing less than one-half of 1 percent of Starbucks' global workforce.