Starbucks announces HQ job cuts

Coffee chain Starbucks is cutting 600 posts, with its headquarters in Seattle taking the bulk of the reduction, reported The BBC.

220 staff will be laid off and another 380 open jobs will not be filled, as the company tries to revive its flagging US business.

Sales have been falling as the US economy has slowed, and Starbucks has also been hit by higher milk costs.

One third of the staff laid off work in Seattle, but the company said no shop staff are affected by the changes.

Starbucks employs more than 170,000 workers worldwide.

Chief executive, Howard Schultz made the announcement about job cuts in an e-mail to staff.

"We have to step up to the challenge of being strategic as well as nimble as our business evolves," he said.

"Unfortunately, we have not been organized in a manner that allowed us to have a laser focus on the customer."

Last month Starbucks said it was cutting back the number of new stores to be opened this year in the US.

The chain plans to open 1,175 US outlets in the 2008 financial year, about 425 fewer than previously planned.