SEATTLE — Layoffs continue at Seattle-based coffee icon Starbucks as the company’s CEO tries to streamline operations.
The Washington State Employment Security Department received a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice for Starbucks in Seattle on Friday.
The letter said the layoffs of 61 employees were the result of the reorganization of the technology department at its corporate headquarters, the Starbucks Support Center, at 2401 Utah Ave S, in the SoDo area.
The expected date of the first layoffs is June 20, with all layoffs completed by August 28.
All of the layoffs are permanent.
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The affected employees are not represented by a Union, meaning they will not be able to displace employees with less seniority due to the layoffs.
In early March, Starbucks announced it would open a corporate office in Nashville later this year as the company expands its operations in the Southeast.
However, a company spokesperson said Seattle remains North America and global support headquarters.
The move marked another setback for Seattle. In September 2025, the coffee company closed its Seattle Reserve Roastery location in Capitol Hill, citing restructuring efforts. The closure ended a nearly 11-year run of the immersive coffee experience in a 15,000-square-foot restored 1920s auto showroom. The location had also been the site of numerous demonstrations by Starbucks workers seeking better pay, hours and working conditions.
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The Reserve Roastery in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood was also closed.
That September, Starbucks closed about 1% of its locations, reducing its North America store count from 18,734 to 18,300. Hundreds of stores were shuttered and jobs were eliminated.
In October, the company laid off 1,100 corporate employees globally, including more than 900 in Seattle and Kent.
In November of the same year, Starbucks workers launched a nationwide strike. The strike largely boiled down to wages, hours, and scheduling, and other working conditions. The strike drew to a close in late February 2026, with workers returning to work but continuing to push for changes.
