Comms lessons from the Starbucks layoff memo
The announcement on job cuts has useful nuggets on leadership, continuity and more.
When Brian Niccol came aboard as the new Starbucks CEO in 2024, there was speculation on how he’d communicate as the leader of such a ubiquitous organization. At the outset of his tenure there were some signals as to how he’d do things, from messaging that emphasized the roots of the brand to commuting from Southern California via corporate jet. But when Starbucks announced a round of layoffs amid a restructuring earlier this week, we got a chance to see Niccol’s leadership communication skills in full force.
In a memo released on its website addressing the company’s global support partners, Starbucks via Niccol laid out the reasoning for the reshuffle and corporate job cuts. While it’s always notable when a major company makes cuts, what’s more interesting about the memo is how it addressed the issues and communicated the news to involved parties.
Breaking the news with an empathetic touch
In the intro to the memo, Niccol breaks down the decision to cut the support team roles, citing the “Back to Starbucks” plan and a need for a more simplified corporate structure. He details the need for a more “nimble” organization that can respond effectively to the company’s needs. Niccol then extends an empathetic message to those impacted.
I recognize the news is difficult. It is not a decision the leadership team took lightly. We understand the real effect this has on partners’ lives and their families. We believe it’s a necessary change to position Starbucks for future success — and to ensure we deliver for our green apron partners and the customers they serve.
Following this, Niccol commits to Starbucks sharing the news with affected people individually and providing a severance package to help them find their footing. In addition, Niccol stated that a timeline for the events of the layoff communications would follow shortly.
When you’re tasked with putting together a layoff communication, this is about as good a way to do it as you can. Niccol is clear in the reasoning for the cuts, shows empathy and demonstrates a commitment to upholding employee respect. It’s textbook great leadership comms. If you’re unfortunately tasked with putting together a layoff announcement from leadership, you can do a whole lot worse than taking a leaf from this book.
Megan Weekes, CMO and partner at Speekes, told Ragan that it was important the memo came directly from Niccol.
“In major moments, the CEO should be the one who addresses their employee base,” she said. “This shows integrity and leadership and it builds trust in the captain of the ship.”
Weekes also pointed to the directness and respect found in the memo’s wording as a big comms win.
“The language in this statement is straightforward and not heavy in corporate jargon,” she said. “The memo doesn’t just reference respect but goes out of its way to make a point of it. Importantly, it also touches on the impact on families and shows gratitude to the entire workforce.”
Outlining the next steps and modeling leadership
Layoffs are uncertain times by their nature. Those affected are often left wondering what’s next and botched layoffs can lead to negative employer reputation for years to come. Through the memo’s comprehensive list of what’s to come for employees and the changes for the company’s leaders, Niccol and Starbucks left little open to interpretation — in a good way. You can see that process in an excerpt from the memo below:
- Moving forward, vp+ leaders in North America will need to be present with their teams in our Seattle (U.S.) and Toronto (Canada) offices at least three days a week. We will maintain a designated set of ‘in-market’ roles to directly support our green apron partners and coffeehouse operations in specific geographies. More information will be provided directly to leaders regarding in-office expectations. This does not change hybrid work policies or in-office expectations for other partners.
- Generally, partners working remotely in director and below roles today will keep their remote status. Hiring for future roles will require partners to be Seattle or Toronto based, except for enterprise designated remote positions.
- In markets outside the U.S. and Canada, local leaders will communicate specific expectations for each market.
Notably, Niccol’s memo summed up both what concerned parties needed to know (like when notifications of layoffs were going out and how that process would be handled) and concrete next steps for the company for both those affected and those left behind to pick up the pieces and outlined them in plain language. If it’s easy to read and understand, people are more likely to read it.
You can’t overlook the format here, either. The need-to-know items are bulleted, and that’s no accident. The format here allows those who are very busy or those who might be riding high on the emotions of the announcement to understand the point quickly and easily.
“The format with bullets is far easier to follow than a long text block,” Weekes said. “It shows forethought for what Starbucks wanted the reader to take away from the announcement.”
Layoff communications aren’t easy — they aren’t meant to be. But the Starbucks and Brian Niccol memo emphasizes that even with difficult organizational comms, how you share something is just as important as the news itself.
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.
I think it would have been fine but it left employees an agonizing 36 hours to stew in their fears and frustrations for far too long. When this level of change is happening, companies need to act quickly or they will organize a private group chat and chatter on the side, negatively and drag down morale which is exactly what happened (I was a part of it)