ANN ARBOR Mich. Domino’s Pizza Inc., which recently reported a 48-percent drop in profit for its fourth quarter, has laid off around 50 people from its corporate and field offices, the company said Friday.
The 8,624-unit pizza chain plans to detail the layoffs and their financial impact in a filing on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The layoffs were a result of “the economic realities we are facing,” said company spokesman Tim McIntyre.
“Our obligation is to ensure our company is strong and in a position to service our franchisees,” he said. “To ensure we’re strong for our shareholders and our employees, sometimes you have to make those tough calls. You have to adjust your spending to account for economic realities.”
Some of the affected employees have qualified and will become Domino’s franchisees, McIntyre said.
The cuts made Wednesday were out of 3,800 salaried positions. Between 425 and 430 employees remain at Domino’s support center in Ann Arbor, he said.
Earlier this week, Domino’s blamed near doubling interest expense and cautious consumer spending on a fourth quarter drop in profit. Net income fell to $16.2 million, or 26 cents per share, for the quarter which ended Dec. 30, from $31 million, or 49 cents per share, from the same quarter a year earlier.