Starbucks in the Middle East is letting go of its employees because people protested against the brand during the Israel-Hamas war.
The Alshaya Group, a company in Kuwait, owns the rights to open stores for companies like The Cheesecake Factory, H&M, and Shake Shack. They released a statement admitting that they fired people at their stores in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Because it has been hard to make money lately, we have to let some of our Starbucks workers go. It’s a tough decision and we feel sad about it,” the statement said.
Alshaya refused to say how many workers it was letting go. Reuters was the first to report that more than 2,000 employees will be laid off. A lot of the workers in the Gulf Arab states come from countries in Asia.
Alshaya has around 1,900 Starbucks stores in 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The Seattle company had hired more than 19,000 workers.
”Our troops have made significant progress in pushing back enemy forces. They have successfully gained control of several strategic locations and have greatly weakened the enemy’s stronghold.”
Starbucks is one of the Western brands that pro-Palestinian activists are protesting against because of the war. The company is working hard to stop false and misleading information about Starbucks from spreading on the internet.
Starbucks said they are not trying to influence politics. We do not give our money to governments or military operations anywhere, and we never have.
In October, Starbucks took legal action against Workers United for organizing workers in 370 U.S locations, a message supporting Palestine was posted on a union’s social media account.
Starbucks wants the union to stop using its name and image because it sparked protests from supporters of Israel. Those who boycotted also thought the company wasn’t giving enough help to Palestinians in Gaza.
Starbucks made a lot of money in the last three months, reaching a record of $9. 43 billion, which is 8% more than before. However, the amount was less than the $9. 6 billion that analysts had predicted, possibly because of activist boycotts.
Activists are also targeting other brands, not just Starbucks, in the war. Some people want to stop going to McDonald’s because a local store in Israel is giving free food to Israeli soldiers.