Starbucks to Lay Off More Than 1,000 Workers
03:03 Share

No problem.

Get 24-7 professional answers and live help and access support by phone, email, and in-platform chat. That's how Schwab is here for you to help you trade brilliantly. Learn more at schwab.com slash trading. Here's your midday brief for Monday, February 24th. I'm Anthony Bansi for The Wall Street Journal.

Starbucks says it will lay off more than 1,000 corporate employees and not fill hundreds of open roles. Its CEO, Brian Nichols, said the cuts would remove corporate layers and duplications to help it become more focused. The coffee company said the layoffs won't affect roasting, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, or cafe workers. The layoffs are among the largest rounds of cuts in Starbucks' history.

The company has been struggling with a string of quarterly sales declines as customers have sought out cheaper coffee or balked at long lines. Apple has said it plans to spend more than $500 billion over the next four years to expand its manufacturing footprint in the U.S. The company pledged today to hire around 20,000 people over that timeline and built a new factory in Houston, Texas to support its generative AI system.

The company didn't provide a detailed breakdown of its investment and spending initiatives, making it difficult to assess how much of that $500 billion is a continuation of the trends already underway and how much comes from new plans. Apple's commitment comes as Silicon Valley has mounted a concerted campaign to cozy up to the new White House administration.

And the Republican National Committee's email was infiltrated by hackers with ties to the Chinese government as it was gearing up for its convention in Milwaukee last summer. That's according to people familiar with the matter. The previously unreported breach was revealed in an upcoming book by reporter Alex Eisenstadt. People familiar with the RNC officials believe the hackers wanted inside information about how the GOP was planning to address Taiwan and its party platform.

After learning of the hack, top RNC officials decided not to alert the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the breach. The people said the committee was concerned that information would be leaked to the media. The RNC declined to comment. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington said that Beijing opposes and combats cyberattacks and cybertheft.

We'll have more coverage of the day's news on WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, I'm Laura Castleton with Janice Henderson Investors. We work to help our clients achieve superior financial outcomes and fulfill our purpose of investing in a brighter future together. To learn more, go to JaniceHenderson.com.