Yum Brands COO to retire after 25 years

Tracy Skeans helped the company emerge as one of the clear QSR winners after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tracy Skeans, Yum Brands’ chief operating officer and chief people and culture officer, is retiring later this year, when she will take an advisory position with the company, Yum said in a press release Tuesday .

Skeans worked for Yum and its component brands for 25 years, , including over a decade as chief people officer, according to the press release. Skeans’ executive responsibilities will pass on to the chain’s next chief people and culture officer, and its next chief scale officer. Yum is working to fill both roles; Skeans will serve as an advisor on the transition until early 2028, according to the press release.

Yum Brands has grown considerably during Skeans’ C-suite tenure, from 43,000 global restaurants in Q1 2016 , when she was appointed chief transformation and people officer, to 63,000 today, according to the press release. Most of that unit count growth occurred in the last five years, with Skeans also serving as COO. In 2021, Yum had about 50,000 global restaurants .

The company’s global growth in the last decade was accompanied by major changes in its home markets. In 2020, Yum acquired the Habit Burger & Grill . Taco Bell emerged as one of the major QSR winners of the shifts toward digital ordering, off-premise dining and value-oriented menu design in the post-COVID years . After a long period of underperformance, KFC began a multi-year turnaround effort using many of Taco Bell’s strategies . Pizza Hut, however, has seen its sales and store system shrink in the United States, pushing Yum to consider offloading the brand.