Starbucks is eliminating more than 200 Seattle-based positions this fall as the coffee giant restructures portions of its corporate operations and shifts some employees to its Nashville office.
According to a WARN notice filed with the Washington State Employment Security Department, the company expects the first separations to occur October 19, with all affected employees leaving by November 1. The reductions involve employees who work at or report to Starbucks’ headquarters.
Approximately 120 of the separations involve employees who were offered the opportunity to transfer to Starbucks’ Nashville office but declined to relocate. Another roughly 104 positions are tied to organizational changes stemming from restructuring work the company announced in May, according to the filing. Employees who elected to relocate are not being terminated.
The affected positions span a wide range of corporate functions and seniority levels. The job-title lists included with the WARN filing show cuts involving accountants, administrative assistants, application developers, engineers, decision scientists, communications personnel, managers and program managers. Other affected areas include real estate, software quality assurance, systems analysis and technical product management.
The reductions also reach functions tied more directly to Starbucks’ restaurant footprint. The filing lists numerous real estate representatives and portfolio advisors, along with store concept designers, store design coordinators, store design leads and store designers. Two vice president positions are included as well.
Starbucks said the job losses will be permanent. Affected employees are receiving 60 days’ notice, are not represented by a union, and do not have bumping rights. The company characterized the action as resulting in the “relocation and/or contracting out of company operations and/or employees’ positions.”
The coffee giant previously announced in May that it would eliminate approximately 300 U.S. jobs and review its international workforce. Starbucks also said it would close regional offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago and Burbank, California, as it streamlined its corporate real estate footprint. The cuts did not impact in-store workers.
Additionally, Starbucks eliminated approximately 1,100 corporate positions in February 2025 and another 900 later that year.
The company has also been building its presence in Nashville. Earlier this year, Starbucks announced a $100 million investment in a new corporate office expected to support up to 2,000 employees over the next five years. The location will include newly created jobs, positions transitioned in-house from third-party providers and select teams relocating from Seattle.
Starbucks has said Nashville will complement its longtime Seattle headquarters, not replace it, with most support teams staying in the Pacific Northwest. The company sees the Tennessee office as a way to tap into the region’s talent pool and place support functions closer to suppliers and anticipated restaurant growth in the Southeast.
The moves are part of CEO Brian Niccol’s Back to Starbucks turnaround plan. The chain has also outlined significant restaurant expansion goals, including more than 2,000 net new stores globally by 2028 and roughly 400 company-operated openings in the U.S.
