(The Center Square) – Starbucks is moving forward with a new series of 61 staff reductions in its corporate headquarters in Seattle.
All the layoffs are in the company’s technology department and are a result of a reorganization within that group, according to a notice filed with the Washington State Employment Security Dept on May 8.
Starbucks officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Starbucks announced last month that it is moving some Seattle technology teams to Nashville as part of the opening of a regional office there. The company has said its main office will remain in Seattle.
Company officials have said that the new regional headquarters will employ 2,000 employees, but have not said how many jobs will be moved from Seattle to Nashville.
Starbucks has around 3,000 corporate employees in Seattle.
Bloomberg News had reported in April that 270 technology employees, 20% of the technology workplace, would be moved from Seattle to Nashville.
The news of the regional headquarters in Nashville has drawn attention to Washington State’s and the City of Seattle’s various business taxes.
A 6.5% state tax on technology services that went into effect in October is just the latest in a series of state and city taxes on businesses.
Seattle’s new mayor, Katie Wilson, has said she is considering new taxes to fill an expected city budget gap of $150 million next year.
Business groups have been complaining about the increasing state and local tax burden. While Starbucks has not commented, its former CEO made his opinion known in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
He had harsh roles for Seattle’s new mayor.
“Seattle’s mayor, Katie Wilson, has chosen to cast business as a foil rather than a partner,” he wrote. “Her socialist rhetoric vilifies employers, even while she continues to rely on them for revenue. She has encouraged residents who disagree with her policies to leave.”
Wilson has recently faced backlash after saying at an April Seattle University event that the claims that millionaires will leave Washington are overblown.
Her comments came after the state legislature passed an income tax on millionaires that goes into effect in 2029.
“The ones that leave … like, bye,” she said with a wave at the event.
As mayor-elect, Wilson urged Seattleites to boycott Starbucks at a November Starbucks union rally.
Wilson offered a conciliatory note on Tuesday.
“Starbucks is part of Seattle’s culture and identity, and I want the company and other large employees to continue succeeding here, ” she said in a statement. “My team and I are in regular communications with the executive team at Starbucks on shared priorities like addressing homelessness, public safety and affordability.”
Starbucks has been a donor to help build housing for the homeless.
Wilson continued in the statement that she wanted a city where companies and workers can succeed together.
“There is plenty of room for us to find common ground and work together on our city’s biggest challenges,” she said.
