Starbucks’ Middle East franchisees announced on Tuesday that around 2,000 employees at coffee shops in the region would be laid off after it emerged that Starbucks had been targeted by activists during the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. announced that it had begun layoffs.
Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, a private family company that holds franchise rights for various Western companies including The Cheesecake Factory, H&M and Shake Shack, issued a statement confirming the layoffs at its locations in the Middle East and North Africa. announced.
“As a result of challenging trading conditions over the past six months, we have made the sad and difficult decision to reduce the number of employees at Starbucks MENA stores,” the statement said.
As first reported by Reuters, Alshaya later admitted that it had laid off about 2,000 employees. Many of the employees in Gulf Arab countries are foreign workers from Asian countries.
Alshaya operates approximately 1,900 Starbucks branches in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Seattle-based company said it employed more than 19,000 people. This represents just over 10% of employees who will be laid off.
Since the war began on October 7, Starbucks has joined other Western brands in being targeted by pro-Palestinian activists over the war.
The company is prominently seeking to combat what it calls the “continued false and misleading information being shared about Starbucks” online.
“We have no political intentions,” Starbucks said. “We do not use our profits to fund government or military operations, and we have never done so.”
In October, Starbucks sued Workers United, which organizes workers at at least 370 Starbucks stores in the United States, over pro-Palestinian messages posted on the union’s social media accounts.
Starbucks said it was trying to force the union to stop using its name and likeness after the post also drew protests from pro-Israel protesters.
Boycotters also felt that the company was not adequately supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Starbucks revenue increased 8% Record $9.43 billion Period from October to December.
However, the result was lower than analysts’ expectations of $9.6 billion, partly due to the activist boycott.
Starbucks is not the only brand targeted by activists during the war.
Some are calling for a boycott of McDonald’s after a local Israeli franchisee announced it would provide free meals to Israeli soldiers in October.
