MASS LAYOFFS IN STARBUCKS’ MIDDLE EAST BRANCHES AFTER PRO-PALESTINE BOYCOTT

Thu 07 March 2024:

Starbucks’ Middle East franchisee has laid off 2,000 staff – 10 percent of its total workers – after being boycotted by pro-Palestine activists during Israel’s war in Gaza.

The activists have blacklisted Starbucks, along with other Western brands including McDonalds, over their perceived support for Israel in its war in Gaza. Starbucks was targeted after the company sued the union organising its workers over a pro-Palestinian message it posted on its social media account.

The Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, which runs about 1,900 franchised Starbucks branches in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE, said it had been forced to cut its staff due to the “challenging conditions”.

“As a result of the continually challenging trading conditions over the last six months, we have taken the sad and very difficult decision to reduce the number of colleagues in our Starbucks MENA stores,” said a statement from the group.

Starbucks, despite insisting it has “no political agenda” and does not fund any government or military operations, has recorded lower sales in early 2024 and experienced a big hit to its sales in the Middle East.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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