McDonald's temporarily shuts down U.S. offices, prepares for layoffs 

McDonald’s is temporarily closing down its offices this week as it prepares to lay off corporate employees across the country as part of a broader company restructuring. 

In an internal email sent to employees last week, the burger chain asked them to work from home from Monday through Wednesday in order to give staffing decisions virtually, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. 

"During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization," the company said in the email. 

McDonald’s also asked employees to cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and outside parties at the headquarters, the report continues. 

The Chicago-based company said the decisions will be done virtually due to a busy upcoming travel week. While key decisions will be announced starting on Monday, it is unclear how many employees will be laid off. 

“We want to ensure the comfort and confidentiality of our people during the notification period,” the company said in the email. 

In January, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said that there would be “difficult discussions and decisions ahead” as the fast food chain updated its business strategy, dubbed Accelerating the Arches 2.0.

Some of the measures taken by the company could lead to significant reshuffling or rolls, as well as layoffs in some areas and expansion in others, the CEO added at the time. 

"[W]e will evaluate roles and staffing levels in parts of the organization and there will be difficult discussions and decisions ahead," the CEO wrote. 

"Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away," Kempczinski said. 

McDonald’s employs around 200,000 people in its more than 40,000 restaurants around the world. About 75% of its employees are outside the U.S.