Starbucks begins announced job cuts with 1,000 layoffs

Starbucks Corp on Wednesday said it issued more than 1,000 pink slips related to its newest round of job cuts.The coffee chain in January said it would close 300 additional outlets and slash as many as 7,000 jobs as it cuts costs to keep up with a deteriorating global economy and soft consumer demand.

About 870 assistant store managers were notified that their positions were eliminated, Starbucks said in a statement.

The company also said about 500 non-store employees in the United States in Canada have been notified that their jobs have been cut. Around 300 of those positions are located in the Seattle-based Starbucks Support Center.Starbucks said similar actions are taking place in international markets where the company owns its stores.

"Some of these partners are being offered opportunity for redeployment to alternative positions and others will be separated from the company," Starbucks said.

In 2008, Starbucks closed 61 stores in Australia and said it would close 600 underperforming stores in the United States.