Bloomin' Brands cutting 100 corporate jobs in Tampa

Tampa-based restaurant giant Bloomin’ Brands is laying off about 100 employees in its restaurant supply operations in the city.

The layoffs, which are happening Thursday, Feb. 20, amount to 17% of its employees in the company’s restaurant supply workforce and, according to public filings, includes workers across various operational units that support corporate administration and restaurant operations.

The company disclosed the cuts to investors Thursday morning in an SEC filing. It says in the filing that the cuts are meant to “align (Bloomin’s) cost structure with the current size of its business following the strategic re-franchising of its Brazil operations in December 2024, ongoing challenging industry trends and increased focus on high priority growth opportunities and operational efficiency.”

“The company believes this will further support its long-term strategy and path to sustainable growth in traffic, comparable sales and profitability.”

The job cuts, along with some recent administrative changes that weren’t disclosed, are expected to save Bloomin' about $22 million per yea, officials say in the filing. 

In addition to the job cuts, Bloomin’ announced some leadership changes meant to support a new operating model. Those include:

• Kelia Bazile, former vice president of operations for Bonefish Grill, was promoted to president of Carrabba’s Italian Grill.
• Lissette Gonzalez, who has been serving as executive vice president and chief supply chain and operations excellence officer since October 2023, was named chief commercial officer.
• The company also announced that last month it named Patrick Hafner executive vice president and president of Outback Steakhouse.

Tampa-based Bloomin’ operates the Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar chains. In all, it has 1,450 restaurants in 46 states, Guam and 13 countries.

The company posted $4.54 billion in revenue for the past 12 months. It will release its fourth quarter earning Feb. 26.