It was widely believed that once 3G Capital purchased Tim Hortons via Burger King employees at Oakville's Tim Hortons Head Office were going to lose their jobs. It was simply a matter of when. The first to step aside were two senior executives. Daniel Schwartz was appointed to steer the ship.
In total 3G Capital invested $12 billion, and the reshuffle was deemed necessary to realize the greatest returns for the new shareholders. The merger of Tim Hortons and Burger King has also resulted in a new company name: Restaurant Brands International. The good news for Oakville is that the new head office will remain in Oakville.
“We have had to make some difficult but necessary decisions today as we reorganize our company to position ourselves for the significant growth and opportunities ahead of us," Alexandra Cygal, vice-president of corporate affairs, said in an email statement.
"We greatly appreciate the service and contributions of all of our employees and are treating departing employees with the utmost respect, while providing generous and enhanced severance packages, continuing health benefits and outplacement services," it continued.
Tim Horton's Canadian stores are overwhelmingly owned by franchisees, so little to no change in staffing/employment is expected at the store level. The same can not be said for head office where department by department where called in to find out who would be left employed by day's end. Tim Horton's head office and support staff across the country employ over 2000 people.
It took only six weeks for layoffs to be realized once 3G Capital took ownership of Canada's most famous brands.