Starbucks Middle East Franchisee to Terminate 2,000 Workers Amid Boycotts

Starbucks operator AIShaya Group in the Middle East is set to lay off employees in the region due to boycotts related to the Israel-Gaza war. The job cuts will affect thousands of the company's staff, and terminations started last weekend.

Workforce Reduction

According to Arabian Business, AlShaya Group, which owns Starbucks' rights to operate in the Middle East, announced it planned to trim its workforce because of the harsh trading conditions resulting from the numerous consumer boycotts over the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The latest job termination will see around four percent of AIShaya's total workforce leave. The Starbucks operator is said to employ 50,000.

Other Causes of the Layoffs

Aside from the war-related calls to refrain from buying and to stay away from Starbucks stores, the other cause of the layoffs is the decline in in-store traffic. Visits to the outlets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia have dramatically dropped as customers participate in the protests against the brand's perceived stance in the conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

Moreover, Starbucks franchisees across the said regions are starting to lose a lot from running their businesses amid the boycotts. One is the Alshaya Group, which has already reached a point where it needs to reduce its workforce. Since the war in the Middle East began, Starbucks has been mentioned as trying to avert the impression that it had supported and funded the Israeli government and its military. However, even if it claimed the stories to be false, the calls for boycotts did not subside.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that the Alshaya Group is based in Kuwait and has the rights to run Starbucks in the territory. It operates over 1,900 SB locations in the Middle East and North Africa.

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