Starbucks has filed a new notice with Washington state detailing 224 job layoffs tied to its Seattle headquarters, but the company says the filing does not repr
Starbucks has filed a new notice with Washington state detailing 224 job layoffs tied to its Seattle headquarters, but the company says the filing does not represent a new round of layoffs.
The Seattle-based coffee giant filed the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, notice on Thursday with the Washington Employment Security Department. The notice covers employees who work at or report to Starbucks' headquarters at 2401 Utah Ave.
According to the filing, about 104 of the layoffs stem from organizational changes connected to restructuring Starbucks announced in May, while approximately 120 involve employees who were offered the opportunity to transfer to the company's Nashville, Tennessee, office but declined to relocate.
A Starbucks global communications representative told KOMO News the filing reflects changes already underway as part of the company's previously announced restructuring of its global support organization and is not an additional round of job cuts.
The representative said the roughly 104 support roles affected by organizational changes are primarily in coffeehouse design and development. That group operated on a different timeline from other parts of the restructuring after a new leader was hired in April and needed time to assess the organization.
The remaining 120 separations involve employees, including those in technology support roles, who were given the option to move to Nashville but chose not to relocate, according to the company. Starbucks' WARN letter states that employees who elected to relocate are not being separated.
The first separations are expected Oct. 19, with all separations completed by Nov. 1. Starbucks said affected employees are receiving 60 days' notice and their terminations will be permanent.
The workers are not represented by a union and do not have bumping rights, according to the filing.
Starbucks said the planned action will involve the relocation and/or contracting out of company operations or employee positions.
The positions listed in the notice span a wide range of corporate functions. They include managers, program and project managers, engineers, application developers, real estate employees and designers. The filing also lists store design and technology positions, including store design leads, store designers, systems analysts, software quality assurance employees and technical product managers.
The filing comes about three months after Starbucks submitted a separate WARN notice involving 252 employees tied administratively to its Seattle support center. That May filing included remote employees around the country who reported to managers assigned to the Seattle headquarters, meaning not all 252 workers were physically based in Seattle. Those separations were expected to begin July 17 and continue through Feb. 1, 2027.
At the time, Starbucks said those reductions were part of broader corporate restructuring efforts under CEO Brian Niccol. The changes came as the company expanded its corporate presence in Nashville while maintaining its Seattle headquarters. Earlier in 2026, Starbucks had also announced layoffs affecting 61 employees tied to its Seattle headquarters and support operations.
The latest notice was signed by Sara Kelly, Starbucks' executive vice president and chief partner officer, and was also sent to Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay.
Starbucks emphasized that the corporate restructuring is not intended to change the customer-facing coffeehouse experience. The company said it is instead working to improve that experience and return stores to what Starbucks has long described as the "Third Place" — a welcoming gathering space outside of home and work.
The restructuring is part of Starbucks' broader effort to reshape its operations while focusing on its coffeehouses and customer experience under Niccol's leadership.
