As McDonald’s Corp prepares to inform its employees about layoffs, they have temporarily closed its U.S. offices this week. Last week the fast food giant shared a memo with its staff saying corporate employees were to work from home from April 3 to the 5th. Additionally, they were told to reschedule any in-person meetings that were to be held at McDonald’s global headquarters in Chicago.
McDonald’s Memo
The memo stated the company is “committed to our values guiding our decisions, how we communicate those changes, and how we will support every member of the company.” Currently, McDonald’s has been refusing to make a statement. One could concur they want to keep things hushed until they have notified any and all decisions to its employees.
Employees were asked to notify their people manager if they were not going to have access to a computer due to travel. This way their contact information could be shared with their “taflager.”
The decision to make transformations through McDonald’s Accelerating the Organization (AtO) began in January. The AtO is allowing the corporation to switch “from legacy mindsets to new behaviors.”
McDonald’s memo thanked those who participated in asking “important questions and contributing to the discussion over the past few months.” The input helped them to shape the “change journey.”
The company sees an opportunity ahead of them to become “faster and more effective at solving problems for” its people and customers. Furthermore, they hope by leveraging their global scale will align resources and help them to take smarter risks in solving “customer problems once together.”
Vision for the Future
McDonald’s memo stated that pushing innovation to the markets makes them closer to its franchisees and customers. Furthermore, reducing work that doesn’t align with its priorities “can be more effectively performed at the enterprise level.”
The corporation plans on using this week to communicate key decisions related to staffing levels and roles that will help them reach their ambitious goals.
News of this decision has stirred mixed feelings across social media. One person tweeted, “If I understand correctly, #McDonalds #USA has closed all its US corporate offices so they can fire people virtually. That’s either very cowardly or a very poor decision. Either way, if Mcdonalds’ is making layoffs, then that doesn’t speak well for the economy at large.” Others echo the sentiment while some believe those in higher corporate positions are the ones in trouble retaining employment.
If I understand correctly, #McDonalds #USA has closed all its US corporate offices so they can fire people virtually.
That's either very cowardly or a very poor decision.
Either way, if Mcdonalds' is making layoffs, then that doesn't speak well for the economy at large.
— Martin Wickens (@mnwickens) April 3, 2023
By Sheena Robertson
Sources:
NBC News: McDonald’s reportedly temporarily shuts its U.S. corporate offices ahead of layoffs
Yahoo!: Read the full memo: McDonald’s outlines plans for layoffs and shift in strategy
WGN-TV9: McDonald’s offices to close briefly ahead of layoffs: report
Inset Image Courtesy of Mike Mozart‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Dirk Tussing‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
