Seattle Times reports say that Starbucks Corp, the coffee chain, is planning to lay off 1,000 employees in the coming weeks. Having already cut jobs at its Seattle headquarters and in stores, the company now plans to close 600 cafes.

Citing a client note from Diane Daggatt, managing director at Seattle-based brokerage McAdams Wright Ragen, the published report has it that the job-cuts include district managers, employees at its headquarters, and field employees; the so-called baristas, who serve the customers, will not be facing the axe.

Along with operating seven full-service locations in the Dayton area, Starbucks also has many smaller kiosks. The coffee company officials said in December that more than $200 million had been planned in new cost-saving measures for fiscal 2009, over and above the $200 million to be yielded as cost savings from the steps already taken.

Starbucks’ fourth-quarter profit for fiscal 2008 fell an enormous 97 percent to $5.4 million from its year before figures, after having fallen 53 percent to $315.5 million in the third quarter.

Struggling to perk up growth in the US, Starbucks will be releasing its quarterly financial results on Wednesday. In its statement this week, the company said that, in 2008, bonuses eluded its top executives. It further added that in fiscal 2009, the salaries of company CEO Howard Schultz and other top managers will not be raised.