McDonald’s reduced some employees’ compensation and titles as part of the restructuring this week that cost hundreds of workers their jobs, according to a person familiar with the situation.

According to internal emails obtained by the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago-based fast food giant informed restaurant owners that it would shutter field offices in the coming months.

They offered some employees the opportunity to remain on payroll with changes to their compensation packages, including items such as bonuses and equity awards, said the anonymous source. 

McDonald’s closed its offices for a few days earlier this week to have career conversations with all corporate employees, including those being let go.

The company said in January that it planned to cut corporate jobs and eliminate certain initiatives, even as it accelerates new store openings. The job cuts would be final by April 3rd, McDonald’s said at the time. It had about 150,000 employees at the end of 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

McDonald’s will consolidate its operations into one national structure that would oversee all of its 10 field offices, according to the Journal. “While the McDonald’s Brand is in the strongest position it has been in years, we also recognize that our business has grown increasingly complex in recent years,” Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, said in the email obtained by the Journal.

Tim Andersen, who served as vice president of operations and development, posted a note on his LinkedIn account on Thursday that read: “I was informed last week I was starting my planned retirement 3 years early during a large reorganization at McDonald’s.”

“Although I always wanted the decision to leave to be mine, I am so proud of the 42 years I spent with the Brand and even more so the incredible people and teams I got to work with in so many different locations and positions,” Andersen wrote.

Another executive who held a director position at McDonald’s wrote a poem on LinkedIn to mark the end of his 20-plus-year tenure at the company.