Starbucks to cut another 1000 jobs

Seattle, January 25: The coffee is getting bitter for Starbucks Corporation. Going by a report in the Seattle Times on Saturday, the largest coffeehouse company in the world is contemplating another gigantic round of layoffs.

The latest round of job cuts, which could show the door to as many as 1000 employees, includes employees working at the Seattle headquarters, district managers and field employees. However, the employees who serve customers, known as baristas, are safe as the axe will not fall on them.

Starbucks declined to comment on possible layoffs. Starbucks spokeswoman Deb Trevino said, "We cannot, as a public company, comment on any details about our business in advance of our earnings release next week and we do not, in any case, comment on rumors and speculation."

Based in Seattle, Washington, U.S., Starbucks is an international coffee and coffee house chain operating in 94 countries with 16,120 stores.

Initially opened in Pike Place Market in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks has come a long way. Today its sells not only drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, snacks, coffee beans but also books, music, and film under the ‘Hear Music’ brand.

The besieged coffee chain is struggling to breathe life into its United States business. It has been hit hard by swelling job losses, home foreclosures, and stock market crashes that have led customers to shrink their spending budgets.

The retailer has, over the past year, refashioned its menu and has indulged in cost cutting measures to revive its business. The Seattle coffee company has already cut more than 2,000 jobs and is closing 600 stores.

One East Coast store manager, on the condition of anonymity, said of the job cuts, “They have us cornered. They know the economy is bad right now, and we can't afford to walk out."

Five of its top executives were not given bonuses in 2008 as the coffee retailer’s performance was not up to the mark. Chief Executive Howard Schultz will have to make do without any base salary rise in 2009.