==Starbucks cutting 900 more jobs

• Starbucks has 360,000 employees and 41,000 locations globally.

Starbucks (SBUX) has announced plans to cut 900 jobs and close 100 locations  in the US and Canada as part of its $100 billion restructuring plan. The news comes just months after the company laid off 1,100 employees in February.

 

 

Estée Lauder Cos. to cut 3,200 jobs

Blaming weak sales in China and duty-free markets, The Estée Lauder Cos. approved 3,200 job cuts. The company signaled it could reduce headcount by another 3,800 with expected restructuring charges of up to $1.6 billion. The restructuring is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

“The Company now estimates a net reduction in positions of 5,800 to 7,000, including approvals to date. This net reduction takes into account the elimination of positions after retraining and redeployment of certain employees in select areas,” ELC said in a statement. “Approvals for specific initiatives under this restructuring program, in total, are still expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2026.” 

A Tough Fiscal 2025

The announcement came as part of the new leadership team’s strategic progress and outlook. In fiscal 2025, sales fell 8% to $14.3 billion. Operating margin fell from 6.2% to 5.5%.

“Having closed fiscal 2025 as expected, we remain wholly focused on continuing to execute our strategic vision of Beauty Reimagined with excellence,” said President and CEO Stéphane de La Faverie. “Despite continued volatility in the external environment, we embarked on fiscal 2026 with signs of momentum and confidence in our outlook to deliver organic sales growth this year after three years of declines and to begin rebuilding operating profitability in pursuit of a solid double-digit adjusted operating margin over the next few years.”

Declines in Most Categories

In fiscal 2025, sales fell in nearly all product categories. Specifically:

• Skincare -12%

• Makeup -6%

• Haircare -10%

• Other -13%

Fragrance sales were flat.

By region, sales fell 4% in the Americas, 12% in EMEA and 7% in Asia Pacific. As noted, ELC blamed the decline on double-digit net sales decline from the Company’s global travel retail business, which is included in EMEA, driven by lower net sales in Asia travel retail, due to ongoing subdued sentiment and lower conversion from Chinese consumers.

Microsoft laying off 3% of all workers

Microsoft on Tuesday said that it’s laying off 3% of employees across all levels and geographies.   The number of jobs getting cut is approximately 6,000. 

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

The company reported better-than-expected results and an upbeat quarterly forecast in late April.

Microsoft had 228,000 employees worldwide at the end of June, meaning that the move will affect thousands of employees.

It’s likely Microsoft’s largest round of layoffs since the elimination of 10,000 roles in 2023. In January the company announced a small round of layoffs that were performance-based. These new job cuts are not related to performance, the spokesperson said.

CrowdStrike lays off 500 or 5% of staff

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. is cutting 500 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce, as it responds to both the security threat posed by artificial intelligence and the growing use of AI to move faster and operate more efficiently.

(Reuters) -CrowdStrike (CRWD) reiterated its fiscal 2026 first quarter and annual forecasts on Wednesday and announced a plan to cut about 500 roles, roughly 5% of its workforce, to reduce costs.

The cybersecurity company will incur about $36 million to $53 million in charges related to the layoffs, of which about $7 million will be recognized in the first quarter ended April 30, it said in a regulatory filing.

The Austin, Texas-based company said the rest of the charges will be seen in the second quarter. The charges primarily consist of future cash expenditure related to severance payments, employee benefits and related costs.

CrowdStrike had 10,118 full-time employees as of January 31, according to its annual report.