Subway is reportedly cutting about 300 jobs from its corporate office in Milford, Connecticut.
The company released a statement lamenting the layoffs and stating that streamlining and simplifying the business with a smaller workforce will help it react quickly to the changing needs of the business.
“Every Subway restaurant is locally owned and operated. We must do what we can to fully support our owners and our guests in every neighborhood in which we do business,” Alan Marcus, Subway’s senior director of public relations, said in an emailed statement to QSR. “Our focus remains on ensuring Subway guests get great service and value at every restaurant they visit, our franchise owners get the full support and tools they need to help them grow and be successful, and that we strengthen our overall business performance. In order to deliver on that strategy, a difficult decision was made to eliminate approximately 300 positions at our global HQ in Milford, Connecticut.”
The major reduction is another sign of change for the chain. In January, Subway restructured its C-suite by letting go of Len Van Popering, its chief brand and innovation officer. That change was explained as “streamlining and simplifying the business by pushing talent and expertise closer to regions in which it does business.” Additionally, former chief legal officer Bethany Appleby was replaced by Ilene Kolbert.
Prior to that, three other executives announced their departure. Don Fertman, the long-time chief development officer, announced his retirement in August 2019. He’s staying on as a development consultant through 2020. CFO Dave Worroll also announced his retirement, and is remaining with Subway through mid-2020 to help the company transition to new CFO Ben Wells. Ian Martin, the brand’s SVP of international, left at the end of 2019 as part of division-reorganization.
CEO John Chidsey, the former chairman and CEO of Burger King Holdings, was hired in mid-November.
Subway has just over 23,650 units in the U.S., which is down from 2015, when it ended the year with 27,103—more than Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut combined. The restaurant chain had 24,798 locations at the end of 2018.
