Subway Lays Off 100 At Milford Headquarters Due To Coronavirus
MILFORD, CT — An additional 150 Subway employees were laid off on Tuesday, including 100 at the company's world headquarters in Milford, according to a company spokesman.
A company official said the coronavirus impacts led to the additional layoffs.
“A reduction in workforce is never an easy decision, especially during these unprecedented times," said Alan Marcus, senior director of public relations. "The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to accelerate a restructuring plan for which we had been preparing. Today, we have reduced the size of our global workforce by approximately 150 employees, including a little more than 100 people at our Milford, CT headquarters, and have re-assigned some staff for better alignment and efficiencies.
"Our focus remains on ensuring Subway guests continue to get great service and value at every restaurant they visit; our franchise owners, all small business owners, get the full support and tools they need to help them grow and be successful and that we strengthen our overall business performance."
In February 2020, Subway announced that it was reducing its headquarters workforce by 300 people. The company saw explosive growth for decades, but a few years ago it started to reduce the number of stores. The company faces stiff competition from a plethora of other companies.
Subway first opened in Bridgeport and expanded to 16 locations by 1974, according to the company's website. The company began franchising locations to expand their growth and currently has more than 40,000 locations around the world. It is the largest fast food company in the world by number of locations and has seven restaurant locations in Milford alone. The company remains privately held.
Subway became a popular option for prospective franchise owners because its startup costs were dramatically lower than other competitors such as McDonald's, according to Business Insider.
Subway's privately-held status shrouds some of its operation policies compared to publicly-held companies. The company faced some criticism after a 2019 New York Times article where some franchisees said they felt targeted by the company and that they were forced to open more locations to compete, but the company refuted the allegations.
The restaurant chain announced that it planned to remodel more than 10,500 locations by the end of 2020 and that it would pay for about 25 percent of the franchise redesign costs. The goal of the overhaul was to make the restaurants more modern and convenient for customers.
The company closed more than 1,000 locations in 2018, according to CNN. In 2016 the company had more U.S. store closures than it did openings for the first time in its history.
Subway named John Chidsey as CEO in November. He is the previous chairman and CEO of Burger King Holdings Inc. The company also faced a struggle after its famous spokesman Jared Fogle became embroiled in a child pornography and sex assault criminal case.
Fogle became a household name and a boon for the company in the early 2000's after he reportedly lost 245 pounds and attributed the weight loss success to Subway. He was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and to traveling across state lines to have illicit sexual conduct with a minor.
Patch editor Rich Scinto contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on the Milford Patch
