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FOX Business’ Lydia Hu reports on workforce worries growing as more office tasks can be performed through artificial intelligence and automation.

McDonald's Corp is temporarily closing its U.S. offices this week as it prepares to inform corporate employees about layoffs undertaken by the fast food giant as part of a broader company restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported.

McDonald's said in an internal email last week to U.S. employees and some international staff that they should work from home from Monday through Wednesday, so it can deliver staffing decisions virtually, the report said.

Signage outside a McDonald’s Corp. fast food restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

"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 message viewed 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,” – – McDonald’s internal email to employees

The burger corporation did not disclose how many employees it is planning to lay off during the company's restructuring. 

MCDONALD'S SHARES HIT ALL-TIME HIGH

In January, CEO Chris Kempczinski warned employees that "difficult discussions and decisions" are on the horizon. 

Kempczinski made the revelation in a message to global employees announcing the company's updated business strategy, Accelerating the Arches 2.0, which includes a reshuffling and possibly cutting positions as a way for the company to become more efficient and innovative and to trim costs.

Chris Kempczinski, here in 2017 at the McDonald’s corporate restaurant at what was then the Oak Brook, Illinois, headquarters. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)

McDonald’s Crispy Chicken Sandwiches and fries are pictured in New York, U.S. March 30, 2021. Picture taken March 30, 2021. (Reuters/Hilary Russ / Reuters Photos)

"[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, adding that the company plans to inform impacted workers by April 3.

MCDONALD'S UNVEILS FIRST AUTOMATED LOCATIONS, SOCIAL MEDIA WORRIED IT WILL CUT 'MILLIONS' OF JOBS

"Some jobs that are existing today are either going to get moved or those jobs may go away," Kempczinski told the Wall Street Journal in a January. 

He told the outlet that he does not currently have a set dollar amount he aims to save or a number for how many positions might be cut. 

The logo of the fast food company McDonald’s is seen on top of a restaurant entrance with people sitting in an outside terrace. (Davide Bonaldo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

As part of its updated plans, McDonald's will also accelerate the pace of its restaurant openings, and said it may test more new concepts aimed at convenience for customers like the Order Ahead Lane offered at a recently-opened Forth Worth, Texas, location.

PEPSI UNVEILS NEW LOOK FIRST REFRESH IN 14 YEARS

On Thursday, March 30, McDonald's shares closed on a record high.

David Zanoni, financial author and Seeking Alpha contributor said the fast-food chain’s $277.79 closing price on Thursday was a result of analyst upgrades of earnings per share over the last three months from $10.49 to $10.58 in 2023 and from $11.44 to $11.70 in 2024.

This photo shows the sign outside a McDonald’s restaurant. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File / AP Newsroom)

The fast-food chain had just over 40,000 restaurants globally at the end of 2021, according to its most recent annual report, with more than 13,000 U.S. locations. 

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McDonald's did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for a comment.

Fox Business' Breck Dumas contributed to this report.

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Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

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Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Samuel Corum | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party.

The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.

Musk said over the weekend that the party would be called the “America Party” and could focus “on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.” He suggested this would be “enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”

The billionaire’s involvement in politics has been a point of contention for investors. Musk earlier this year was part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and worked closely with President Donald Trump — a move seen as potentially hurting Tesla’s brand.

Musk left DOGE in May, which helped Tesla’s stock.

Now tech billionaire’s reinvolvement in the political arena is making investors nervous.

“Very simply Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Sunday.

“While the core Musk supporters will back Musk at every turn no matter what, there is broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track.”

Musk’s previous political foray earned him Trump’s praise in the early days, but he has since drawn the ire of the U.S. president.

The two have clashed over various areas of policy, including Trump’s spending bill which Musk has said would increase America’s debt burden. Musk has taken issue to particular cuts to tax credits and support for solar and wind energy and electric vehicles.

Trump on Sunday called Musk’s move to form a political party “ridiculous,” adding that the Tesla boss had gone “completely off the rails.”

Musk is contending with more than just political turmoil. Tesla reported a 14% year-on-year decline in car deliveries in the second quarter, missing expectations. The company is facing rising competition, especially in its key market, China.

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Environment

Paris’ popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

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Paris' popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.

According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.

“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.

The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.

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The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.

Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.

And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.

The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.

Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.

That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.

The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.

Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.

The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.

Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.

In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.

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Environment

CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

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CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

When they lose a significant other, most men do indeed become a “TRAIN WRECK.” Then they pick up the pieces of their lives and start living again — paying attention to their personal grooming, hitting the gym and discovering new hobbies.

What does the world’s richest man do? He starts a political party.

Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named “American Party.”

Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on “just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” and will have legislative discussions “with both parties” — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.

It might be easier to realize Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.

To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.

Folks, here’s direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.

 — CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

And finally…

An investor sits in front of a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing, China.

Thomas Peter | Reuters

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