1d ago

Starbucks takes aim at remote work, says some employees may need to relocate to headquarters

Starbucks is requiring some remote workers to return to its headquarters and increasing the number of days that corporate employees are required to work in an office.

In a letter to employees posted on Monday, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said corporate employees would need to be in the office four days a week starting in early October instead of three days a week.

The Seattle-based company said that all corporate “people leaders” must be based in either Seattle or Toronto within 12 months. That is a change from February, when it required vice presidents to relocate to Seattle or Toronto.

21 comments

Isn't the CEO commuting from LA to Seattle by private jet every day because his kids don't want to change school or something?
- Yup that asshat is doing his part to overheat the planet and is getting his panties in a wad about real people not wanting to waste money coming in to a workplace.
- I know I could search and I will, but asking for anyone else in case I don’t return - got any source? Cause that would be disgusting if true and yet another cause to avoid SB
  
  https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/23/business/starbucks-ceo-brian-niccol-private-jet
  Starbucks is providing a corporate jet and paying for him to fly to Seattle. He’s probably not doing it every day, but it’s quite disgusting.
  But let’s force everyone who isn’t a CEO to uproot their lives and move. Starbucks pinky swears that after you relocate, they won’t do a round of job cuts in a year.
  
  I remember reading about it a few months ago
- Yup, from Newport Beach, CA. I don't know the reason or frequency, but it does seem like he's home every weekend.

Layoffs are next. That's the how these things go.
- This is kinda the cheaper method, much less severance to pay when it’s a voluntary separation - from the linked article:
  workers who choose not to relocate will be eligible for a one-time voluntary exit program with a cash payment
  This is lately referred to as a ‘stealth layoff.’
  
  Yeah, that's why layoffs come next. They get the cheap ones out of the way first.
- Yep, this isn't a we want everyone to be closer to the office. This is a let's see how many will quit first before we layoff the rest on our list.

Empty office buildings make for poor sales numbers in the stores that are in the lobby.

Fuck every corp. Every single one is evil. End corps
- No, corps are fine. They are very useful and even essential in some cases. But they have power now, more than the people who work for the corps or the people who buy from the corps. That should be reversed. So let the corps live, but castrate them.

A fucking coffee company turning into a global capitalist hydra and having more clout than nation states is like peak futurama shit.

Starbucks has turned into the 7-Eleven of coffee. It’s uncomfortable, not particularly clean, and you only go inside to use the bathrooms.
I stopped in at an airport the other day and they told me there would be a 15 minute wait for drinks from the time you placed your order. There were 4 people working, one was talking on her phone the whole time she was making drinks. I just went to the next coffee shop instead.
It’s not hard to see why Starbucks is in decline.

Boycott these bastards

At Seattle or Toronto's price point, I think it's likely a staff reduction by other means... That is unless the employees ignore it. https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/new-data-shows-workers-are-mostly-ignoring-return-to-office-orders/91202144

Nobody against remote work should be trusted to make any decision about anything.

We'll post a new office address each morning at 8 a.m., if you're not in by 9 a.m. you're fired. Good luck, and god speed.

Looks like the smart ones will get a little severance:
Niccol said affected workers who choose not to relocate will be eligible for a one-time voluntary exit program with a cash payment.
On an unrelated note, if a significant portion of your job can be replaced by AI then your job can be done remotely because AI has no "office culture" (even though that's a weak bullshit reason for RTO to begin with).

Suprised starbucks had remote workers to begin with

21 comments