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Starbucks announces Nashville headquarters, shifting away from Seattle
One of Washington's iconic companies headquartered in Seattle now plans to open a major corporate office in Nashville, with Starbucks announcing it will add thousands of jobs and invest millions in Tennessee.
SEATTLE - Starbucks is completing another round of job cuts affecting over 200 employees, marking the second time the company has done so in 2026.
According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) expected to be filed on Thursday, the Seattle-based coffee company said it plans to separate with about 224 employees between Oct. 19 and Nov. 1.
The cuts come ahead of the company's opening of a new corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2027.
Which jobs were affected by the cuts?
What we know:
According to the WARN notice, the main jobs being cut are various types of managers, directors, store design leads, and real estate representatives.
Those four titles account for 124 of the 224 layoffs.
Other positions listed include store designers, administrative assistants, lead application developers, and various engineers.
Starbucks said that it gave all affected employees 60 days' notice of their termination dates, adding that some employees who are being laid off were offered the option to transfer to the new Nashville location, but chose to decline.
"Approximately 120 of the separations reflected in this notice are associated with those relocation declines," the company said. "Approximately 104 are associated with organizational changes resulting from the restructuring work announced in May 2026. Employees electing to relocate are not being separated."
Why Starbucks’ TN expansion could mean a $750M hit to WA
Washington could lose up to $750 million in tax revenue in the coming years with Starbucks expanding in Tennessee instead of Washington.
Starbucks layoffs continue
The backstory:
The expected filing announcing the layoffs is the second time in 2026 that Starbucks has laid off over 200 employees.
On May 17, it was reported that the company was cutting 252 corporate jobs between its Seattle Support Center headquarters and remote positions.
Management stated the layoffs are tied to plans for shifting operations, noting that the cuts will result in the relocation or contracting out of certain business functions and corporate positions.
The cut followed two separate corporate workforce reductions announced by the company earlier this year: a May 8 cut that eliminated 61 positions, and a March 27 cut affecting 69 jobs.
More Seattle layoffs
Local perspective:
The announcement from Starbucks comes weeks after another Seattle-based company, Zillow, announced that it would be cutting a little more than 500 jobs, including 91 in Washington.
And it also comes one day after TikTok revealed plans to cut about 75 jobs from its facility in Bellevue.
Additionally, Microsoft and Google revealed plans to cut jobs in Washington. Microsoft cuts are expected to affect about 600 workers in Washington, while the Google cuts are expected to affect a little over 50 employees.
The Seattle Times notes that Starbucks has laid off more than 2,500 employees in Washington since February 2025.
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The Source: Information for this story came from a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification expected to be filed by Starbucks on Thursday.