Starbucks to lay off 2,000 employees in Middle East

Starbucks, long run by a Jewish executive, is set to cut about 2,000 Middle East employees. The move comes as the company faces a massive boycott in the Muslim world following the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas last October.

Kuwaiti retailer Alshaya Group, which owns the rights to operate Starbucks in the Middle East, said Tuesday it was laying off about 2,000 people, saying, “Starbucks had taken the difficult decision to reduce the number of employees due to the challenging conditions that have continued over the past six months," according to Reuters and others. The cuts represent about 10 percent of the 19,000 Starbucks employees in the Alshaya family. Alshaya Group operates approximately 1,900 stores in 13 countries across the Middle East and North Africa.

In the Middle East, iconic American food service brands, including KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Pepsi, have faced strong consumer backlash in recent months. This is because the US unilaterally favors Israel.

Starbucks also faced a difficult situation at home. Shortly after the war broke out, the Starbucks union posted a social media post in support of Palestine. Jewish and conservative customers protested, and the company filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the union. The situation has continued to generate complaints from both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel customers.


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