According to the “Wall Street Journal”, in the United States Starbucks (SBUX-US), 1/4 of the baristas left the company within 3 months of entering the company, a 10% increase from before the epidemic. In this regard, CEO Howard Schultz said that it may be related to the cumbersome process of making cold drinks, and he is trying to improve it.
The turnover rate of Starbucks baristas in the United States is rising, and one of the main reasons may be related to customers’ thirst for cold drinks, the company executives said.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that Starbucks data shows that 25% of new baristas leave the company within three months of joining the company, which is 10% higher than before the epidemic. Employees working at Starbucks in the United States have formed labor unions one following another in various places in order to demand the company to improve their treatment.
One of the reasons for the rise in turnover may have to do with the popularity of cold drinks, Schutz said. The production process of Starbucks cold drinks is much more complicated than that of hot drinks; in addition to constantly replenishing ice cubes, the barista has several complicated production procedures.
Schutz said the company is trying to improve, as well as the store plan is also planning to redo.
In order to retain employees, in addition to raising hourly wages in August 2022, Starbucks in the United States is also reviewing the store configuration, menu, and barista work content.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in order to improve the working environment of employees, Starbucks is exploring the improvement of the store configuration and the method of speeding up the production of cold drinks in the experimental site covering an area of 20,000 square feet at its headquarters in Seattle.
However, Starbucks employees interviewed by the media said that the current average daily number of customers is regarding 1,500, which is much higher than the 1,200 in the past; and they mentioned that demand is continuing to increase, but there has been no progress in reform.
In order to make store operations safer, Starbucks in the United States has closed the toilets that customers used to freely use. The company announced a few days ago that it has closed 18 stores through late August 2022 due to serious problems such as customers taking drugs in the store.
The head of public relations for Starbucks in the United States told “Business Insider” that following careful review, in order to open new stores under safer conditions, it was decided to close some stores that endangered the continued operation and suffered multiple serious incidents.
