Starbucks laying off 252 more Seattle employees, unclear about why now

(The Center Square) – A new state regulatory filing on Monday revealed that Starbucks is laying off 252 more workers across its Seattle headquarters.The latest filing with the state Employment Security Department comes after Starbucks announced last week that it was laying off 61 employees in its technology department.
The new layoffs focus on Starbucks’ corporate support staff, but also impact employees in various corporate roles, including vice president, managers and administrative assistants.
Starbucks officials didn’t respond to requests for comment, and it’s unclear whether the moves are related to cost-cutting efforts by Starbucks’ CEO Brian Niccol.
Niccol, who took over in September 2024, had been given a mandate by the company’s board of directors to increase profits and had made cost-cutting a key part of his tenure.
Starbucks increased its profit in its most recent quarter ending March 29, 2026. The company posted net earnings of $510.9 million, representing a 33% increase from the same period a year earlier.
Nichol’s back-to-Starbucks campaign also aims to renovate coffeehouses to make them more neighborhood-friendly.
Starbucks announced last month that it is moving some sourcing and technology teams to Nashville as part of the opening of a regional office there. The company has said its main office will remain in Seattle.
More than 300 positions will be moved from Seattle to Nashville, according to regulatory filings and interviews with officials in both cities.
Starbucks had 3,000 employees in Seattle as of 2025, but the company has not given an updated count.
The future regional headquarters in Nashville is supposed to house 2,000 employees, potentially making it larger than Seattle, given layoffs and job transfers from Seattle to Nashville.
Starbucks’ move to open a regional headquarters in Nashville has fueled a debate over whether Seattle’s tax burden on businesses is too high.
Seattle’s new mayor, Katie Wilson, campaigned on a platform of adding new business taxes to help fund social programs.
As mayor-elect, Wilson urged Seattleites to boycott Starbucks at a November Starbucks union rally.
More recently, she has moderated her comments, stating that Starbucks contributes to Seattle’s culture and identity.
Overall, unemployment-wise, Washington’s economy lost an estimated 3,200 jobs (seasonally adjusted) in March 2026, according to state statistics.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.1%.
“Although the unemployment rate remained unchanged, it continues a trend of steady increases throughout 2025 and into 2026, signaling an increasingly challenging labor market for job seekers,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist for the Employment Security Department, in a press release.
Starbucks has laid off more than 2,000 corporate staff members and retail workers in Washington since February 2025, according to state statistics.

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