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Starbucks is cutting jobs at its Seattle headquarters as former CEO Howard Schultz lashed out at the city’s leadership, accusing its mayor of pushing “socialist rhetoric” that disparages businesses.
“Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has chosen to do business as a foil instead of a partner,” former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote Monday. op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. “His socialist rhetoric insults employers, even though he continues to rely on them for income. He has encouraged residents who do not agree with his policies to leave.”
Monday, KOMO News report that Starbucks is laying off 61 employees as part of a reorganization of its technology department at its corporate headquarters.
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Split photo of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson. (Getty Images)
In a March post on LinkedIn, the former CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz announced that he and his wife are moving to Florida for their “retirement phase,” leaving Washington State after half a century.
Although his March position did not mention the recently passed billionaire tax, he will put a 9.9% of household income tax who earns more than $1 million each year, talked about taxes in a Monday op-ed.
“In the nation’s capital, the Legislature and the governor have faced a difficult financial trade-off by emphasizing taxation rather than reform or job management,” Schultz wrote. “The idea seems to be that prosperity can be mandated through redistribution rather than generated through growth.”
He continued, “Washington has a broken tax system. The reliance on sales taxes—10.55% in Seattle—is deeply regressive. The state needs to rewrite its tax code across the board in a way that ensures that people and businesses alike pay their share.”
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Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson declared last year in a barista row, “I don’t buy Starbucks, and neither should you.” (David Ryder/Reuters)
Starbucks appears to be reducing its presence in Seattle, admitting that in March it will close five more stores in the city. This follows several closures in 2025, including Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill.
In his op-ed, Schultz said even big companies are hiring less for a variety of reasons.
“Microsoft and Amazon—if hiring engines—have cut back on hiring and reduced headcounts as they race to build data center capacity and compete globally. Starbucks recently announced it will move hundreds of corporate roles to Tennessee,” he wrote.
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Starbucks Corp. headquarters. in Seattle, Washington, on September 26, 2025. (David Ryder/Bloomberg)
Schultz added, “These companies have imported global talent at scale for decades, strengthening the interconnected system of suppliers and startups. As those businesses reduce their local role, Seattle does not have a clear answer to the question of what will provide the next set of jobs and revenue growth.”
Center Square report that a recent survey by the Association of Washington Business found that 44% of business leaders say they are considering moving their headquarters out of the state, with businesses saying they are now twice as likely to expand outside of Washington than within it.
Schultz also appeared to be suspicious of the business exit from Seattle’s public safety crisis.
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A pedestrian walks past a makeshift tent camp on the street in Pioneer Square in Seattle, Washington, on June 5, 2019. (Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg)
According to FBI crime report in 2024, released in August, Seattle was ranked fourth worst of America’s 30 largest cities for total crime.
“Cities and states don’t go down overnight,” Schultz wrote. “They’re swept away when public safety, financial stability and economic strength collapse together. Urban spaces reduce foot traffic. Declining pedestrian traffic weakens small businesses. Employment declines. Incomes decline. Services disappear. Confidence—something that’s hard to build and easy to lose—begins to evaporate.”
The former CEO of Starbucks said that he wants the leaders of the state to change the way they behave, but he said that the current way is driving businesses and entrepreneurs away.
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Andrea Suarez, executive director of We Heart Seattle, speaks with a homeless man who injects methamphetamine in Seattle, Washington, March 13, 2022. The city is addressing drug addiction and homelessness in public spaces.
“I hope leaders in Washington will embrace these policies and create a new deal—one based on job creation, fair taxation and responsible public spending,” he wrote. “Washington once held the future of the US economy, and it can again. But the current government needs to learn that the entrepreneurs of the future will not be attracted to ineffective social programs, especially when they are combined with policy and political rhetoric that condemns business.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Wilson and Starbucks for comment.
