Coming from a barista of 3 years, observations
- culture shift over time to become less cozy and welcoming
- drinks that are kind of basic but more and more expensive
- ever changing standards from flippy floppy corporate for each CEO or wave in the company
- impossible rising standards for workers without increasing pay to follow
-high turnover in workforce for many reasons
- lack of timely or any response for store issues that cannot be resolved within the store. And very different environments store to store - some are great as customers and workers, others are unbearable.
I could go on, but these are some of the things that come to mind
I'd add Store Manager turnover. One store in my district is on their fifth manager in three years. There is no way to keep a store up to any sort of standards without continuity of leadership.
That would be really tough too. I wonder why they keep getting fired when they seem to have a hard time dealing with other managers. It probably differs by place. There could be places where managers are easy to fire, and others where they don’t when they should.
SM burnout is endemic in this company. I've seen so many store managers start out happy and excited to be there, and within six months they hate their lives and want to quit. The number of hats they have to wear while dealing with pressure from upper management, shifts, and baristas simultaneously, having to be available 24/7, having no work life balance, and being expected to meet unrealistic goals with no resources, is just absurd.
add:
-Brian Niccol
-Brian Niccol’s billion-dollar-a-year salary
-Brian Niccol’s private jet
-Brian Niccol being completely out of touch on what being a true commited partner means and how much value it brings to what used to make Starbucks a great place to not only be a customer but also be a partner
“When I reached out to Starbucks for comment, a spokesperson asked if there
‘would be any tension’ in my article. They would not clarify what they meant by
‘tension,’ and also declined to answer any questions outside of written responses.”
they really screwed up when Covid started by completely shutting down. Most of their stores had drive-throughs,and could've stayed open. They were closed for several months, which broke the habit of going there regularly for a lot of people myself included. I went from an almost daily customer to not setting foot in a Starbucks for like three years.
they lost customers short and long-term, they lost a number of good people, and the stores around here anyway have never been the same. hence why I reduced my visits by about 90%, and they are clearly losing business to competitors. they obviously have done other things wrong as the article points out, but that long shutdown cost them in ways they're never going to recover.
Yes and no. They gave their workers at the time the option to stay home and get paid or go to work. A lot of people who were here for Covid in my district of course chose the stay home and get paid I mean who wouldn’t.
Coming from a barista of 3 years, observations - culture shift over time to become less cozy and welcoming - drinks that are kind of basic but more and more expensive - ever changing standards from flippy floppy corporate for each CEO or wave in the company - impossible rising standards for workers without increasing pay to follow -high turnover in workforce for many reasons - lack of timely or any response for store issues that cannot be resolved within the store. And very different environments store to store - some are great as customers and workers, others are unbearable.
I could go on, but these are some of the things that come to mind
I'd add Store Manager turnover. One store in my district is on their fifth manager in three years. There is no way to keep a store up to any sort of standards without continuity of leadership.
Fifth in three years? Dude we’ve gone through 5 since February
That would be really tough too. I wonder why they keep getting fired when they seem to have a hard time dealing with other managers. It probably differs by place. There could be places where managers are easy to fire, and others where they don’t when they should.
SM burnout is endemic in this company. I've seen so many store managers start out happy and excited to be there, and within six months they hate their lives and want to quit. The number of hats they have to wear while dealing with pressure from upper management, shifts, and baristas simultaneously, having to be available 24/7, having no work life balance, and being expected to meet unrealistic goals with no resources, is just absurd.
add:
-Brian Niccol -Brian Niccol’s billion-dollar-a-year salary -Brian Niccol’s private jet -Brian Niccol being completely out of touch on what being a true commited partner means and how much value it brings to what used to make Starbucks a great place to not only be a customer but also be a partner
“When I reached out to Starbucks for comment, a spokesperson asked if there ‘would be any tension’ in my article. They would not clarify what they meant by ‘tension,’ and also declined to answer any questions outside of written responses.”
My favorite part lol. I don’t know when they’ll freaking get it. The cowards
"meet new people in a comfortable, unpretentious setting."
Pretentious is a great word we should use to describe Starbucks.
"maintained healthy hours per partner"
Uh are you sure about that?
This is so worth the read imo. I wish it featured more than one partner but he does a good job
they really screwed up when Covid started by completely shutting down. Most of their stores had drive-throughs,and could've stayed open. They were closed for several months, which broke the habit of going there regularly for a lot of people myself included. I went from an almost daily customer to not setting foot in a Starbucks for like three years.
Shutting down was one of the best and most moral things we ever did.
from a human standpoint I agree with you, especially if they paid their workers. I just meant it was a terrible business decision.
I disagree. I think it was a smart business decision. There was a time when this company invested in keeping their partners happy.
they lost customers short and long-term, they lost a number of good people, and the stores around here anyway have never been the same. hence why I reduced my visits by about 90%, and they are clearly losing business to competitors. they obviously have done other things wrong as the article points out, but that long shutdown cost them in ways they're never going to recover.
I obviously disagree. We came out stronger than ever. Only recently have we destroyed ourselves.
Yes and no. They gave their workers at the time the option to stay home and get paid or go to work. A lot of people who were here for Covid in my district of course chose the stay home and get paid I mean who wouldn’t.
A promising narrative for the young people to occupy