This week, McDonald’s Corp is closing its US offices for three days as they prepare for layoffs.
Those affected will be the burger chain’s corporate employees, in a broader company restructuring, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,” McDonald’s officials said in a memo obtained by the WSJ.
However, the extent of the firings is unknown, and an exact figure of employees whose jobs will be impacted has not been announced.
The chief executive, Chris Kepczinki, said in January that “some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away”.
Are layoffs becoming contagious?
These layoffs will mean McDonald’s joins the long list of other companies that have recently made large-scale redundancies. Some of these companies include Meta, Disney, eBay, General Motors, Twitter and Yahoo.
Jeff Schwartz, VP of Insights & Impact at Gloat, does not believe layoffs are contagious and that the actions of one company should not affect others. He states:
“These layoffs are a function of what I believe looks like a common pattern of contagion, but I don’t think it actually is contagion. What’s critical to understand is what’s driving the decision in certain sectors and certain companies to layoff employees or to hold on to their employees.
“At the moment, layoffs are very uneven across the economy and it’s probably not a pervasive trend, but it’s more of a sporadic one. I would challenge us to think not about contagion, but about what companies and industries and sectors have in common and what’s happening in their larger market.”
Kate Palmer, HR Advice and Consultancy Director at Peninsula, says:
“It appears that the majority of affected staff are based in America, which has different employment rules and regulations than in the UK. Employers should pay particular attention to their use of “lay off” and remember that, here, placing someone on layoff is not a dismissal. Instead, it is a temporary holding measures where there is a shortage of work that is not expected to last.
“Under UK employment law, employers who are considering making 20 or more employees redundant within a 90 day period must complete collective consultation and submit notification of the proposed redundancy to the Secretary of State. They must also compile a compelling business case to justify the need to consider redundancy action and ensure any related selection processes were conducted in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
