Starbucks Tech Layoffs: What's Behind the Cuts and How It Impacts the Industry

Starbucks Cuts Jobs in Technology Teams

Starbucks is cutting staff in its technology organization, according to an internal communication sent to employees Tuesday.

Starbucks declined to share the exact number of layoffs or confirm whether they were Seattle-based roles.

The cuts, which had been rumored internally for several days, according to several employees, were part of the company’s restructuring of its technology organization, the company told employees in an internal message seen by The Seattle Times.

“We are making structural changes to move faster, sharpen focus, and ensure we are set up to deliver on our most important priorities,” the company said in the message.

The cuts were communicated to affected workers Tuesday and were not included in a separate announcement that some Seattle-based technology roles will move from Seattle to its planned office in Nashville, Tenn., which will eventually house up to 2,000 jobs.

In December, Anand Varadarajan joined Starbucks as its chief technology officer after 19 years at Amazon, where he was most recently in charge of its global grocery business.

According to the IT trade journal ETCIO, Varadarajan’s hiring “signal[s] a sharper focus on technology-led growth.”

Starbucks is in the midst of a major turnaround effort under CEO Brian Niccol, who was hired in 2024 to deal with lagging sales and profits, and operational problems at stores.

That has meant major investments in store upgrades and a planned expansion into markets where Starbucks isn’t prevalent.

But it has also meant major cost-cutting.

Last year, Starbucks closed several hundred stores in the U.S. and Canada, including more than 30 locations in Washington. It also laid off nearly 1,000 retail and nonretail workers in Seattle and Kent, along with 1,100 corporate employees, and more cuts are expected next month.