McDonald's closes U.S. offices briefly ahead of layoffs

McDonald's has closed its U.S. offices for a few days ahead of informing employees about layoffs.

Local media on Monday cited an internal email of the Chicago-based fast food chain company as saying that its U.S. corporate staff and some employees overseas should work from home while waiting for notification of their job status.

McDonald's would inform its employees this week about staffing decisions as part of its wide restructuring "Accelerating the Arches" program announced earlier in January, which would focus on "deliveries, Drive Thru, digital and development."

The fast food giant has more than 150,000 employees in corporate roles. About 70 percent of those employees are based outside the United States.

McDonald's reported its global sales rose nearly 11 percent in 2022, and sales in the United States climbed almost 6 percent. In its latest annual report, it cited difficulties in adequately staffing some of its outlets.

Layoffs have been mounting in the United States, mainly in the technology sector. IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months.

The Federal Reserve forecast earlier that U.S. unemployment rate may rise to 4.6 percent by the end of this year.