McDonald’s wants to eliminate jobs at its regional office locations, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The move is widely considered an effort to reduce operating expenses by $500 million by the end of 2019.

“I recognize that change is difficult, and that eliminating layers within our organization means some employees will ultimately exit our system,” McDonald’s USA President Chris Kempczinski said in the memo to the Journal.

The Journal reported that McDonald’s did not give an exact number of how many employees would be laid off in its memo.

The job cuts were announced despite the company’s strong market growth.

According to a press release on McDonald’s corporate website, global comparable sales increases by 5 percent, while systemwide sales increased by 7 percent.

“We continued to build upon the broad-based momentum of our business, marking 11 consecutive quarters of positive comparable sales and our fifth consecutive quarter of positive guest counts,” said McDonald’s President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook said in the press release. “More customers are recognising that we are becoming a better McDonald’s, appreciating our great tasting food, fast and friendly service and compelling value as we execute our Velocity Growth Plan.”

The news of the layoffs comes after McDonald’s officially opened its corporate headquarters in the West Loop earlier this week.