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.

  • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

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

  • Magister@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    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?

    • littletoolshed@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      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.’

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      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.

  • doublebatterypack@piefed.social
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    10 hours ago

    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).

  • RohanWillAnswer@discuss.tchncs.de
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    15 hours ago

    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.