Starbucks CEO Realizes That Adding Labor vs Automation Boosts Profits. Um, Yes.
Someone should've asked the baristas about that
OMG, you guys! You won’t believe what Starbucks did. They did this test where they added extra payroll to stores to see if it helped business, and guess what?
It worked!
"We're finding that investments in labor rather than equipment are more effective at getting customers their orders and growing sales," CEO Brian Niccol said.
NO WAY.
You don’t say. Ohmygosh, I cannot believe it. You mean to tell me that the new equipment you installed, like faster blenders, automatic dispensers, and a whole new system designed to allocate employees to tasks at busy times, didn’t work as well as more humans?
Holy cats!
I cannot believe it.
Alright. I can believe it.
Since I scream this every day from my laptop. Hire more people and pay them better!
So often, when companies strip the stores of payroll and install some new tech, they are shocked that it doesn’t suddenly boost profits.
"Over the last couple of years, we've been removing labor from the stores, I think with the hope that equipment could offset the removal of the labor," Niccol said on Tuesday.
"That wasn't an accurate assumption with what played out," he added.
Yeah, no shit.
Also, this explains why my iced Americanos started to suck. It’s because humans were no longer in charge of every step. This order was my go-to on my way to work. It was my gridlock treat. Then, one day, it just wasn’t good anymore.
I blame the robots. I digress. Back to my initial rant.
When was the last time anyone at the Starbucks corporate office worked in a store? Has anyone tried to manage mobile orders, a line out the door, the register, and also wrangle the group of twelve-year-olds hogging the tables after school?
If they have, it hasn’t been often enough. The new decisions the company is rolling out this year make no sense. Starbucks’ decisions this year show me a company that doesn’t remember who it is. It also cannot decide which way it wants to go.
Are they getting back to their coffee-first, barista roots as they claim? The answer is yes and no.
See what I mean?
Notes on cups
Starbucks has now mandated that their baristas write a message on every cup. Like they did 25 years ago. The baristas today do not think it’s cute. There are also rules for the note writing.
Baristas are not allowed to write abbreviations on the cups like IYKYK (if you know, you know), YOLO (you only live once), or GOAT (greatest of all time). The company thinks that not everyone will understand the meanings.
They are also not allowed to put a smiley face only on the cup. They want a more heartfelt message included. One barista on Reddit joked that if smiley faces only were allowed, the company would mandate a one-hour training on how to draw a smiley face correctly.
Ah, corporate.
The message writing has obviously slowed down the barista’s ability to keep up their pace and keep up with all the incoming orders as quickly as usual.
“It's just a lot for workers to have to add to the number of things we're expected to do,” explained Amanda Rivera of Starbucks Workers United.
Um, yes. One hundred percent.
When employees aren’t writing motivational notes on cups, they’re rearranging their wardrobes based on Starbucks’ new dress code.
Hear us out - neutral colors but we’re fun!
A few weeks ago, Starbucks reverted to a stricter dress code. It’s basically black, white, khaki, and denim. Consistent but not fun. No more hats, also.
Employees expressed frustrations online when the changes were coming.
“I like the dress code we have now. Loose enough for us to have our own unique style that looks somewhat similar to each other. Gives off that loose, carefree vibe a coffee shop should have.” - Commenter, Slowpoke on Reddit
Slowpoke gets it exactly right. Uniforms scream corporate. When people are able to express their own style more freely, you get a more carefree vibe. It’s more authentic.
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a TikTok about corporate coffee vibes. A guy was saying that a new coffee shop opened near him, so he went to try it. But none of the baristas had piercings or brightly colored hair. No one was wearing an out-of-season beanie. The employees had name tags on, so he left.
“It felt too corporate,” he said.
It does. So what is Starbucks doing? They want everyone to look the same but still have personalities and write motivational sayings on cups. Do you see the disconnect here?
Authentic coffee vibes are hard to scale
Back in the ‘90s, ordering a coffee from a barista was intimidating. I mean, next level. Baristas were not warm and friendly back then. If you didn’t know how to order or if you didn’t know what a latte was, you got stared down and they rolled their eyes in your face.
If your order was too sweet - eye roll.
Too complicated - eye roll.
If you smiled or tried to be friendly - side eye.
You had to walk up to that counter confidently and act like you didn’t care. Remember, do not smile. “Hey. Yah. I’ll take a small Americano; no room.” (Pay with cash). “Keep the change. Later.”
Then you would walk out and drink it.
I don’t care that it’s too strong or bitter. You drink it! Get on with your day.
A lot has changed in coffee culture, and Starbucks was a huge driver of that. The baristas were actually friendly. They genuinely loved coffee and wanted to share that enthusiasm. They were stoked to educate you.
But that’s largely been lost.
It’s been lost to mobile ordering and automation. It’s been lost to scale. It’s been lost in the name of optimization.
It’s really difficult to replicate special coffee vibes on a large scale. Starbucks actually did it for longer than I thought they would. But now, I don’t know what they are after.
Because when my iced Americano has lost its signature flavor and the employees are all dressed the same, I don’t really care about a note on a cup. It feels forced.
I hope someone up there in the mountains of Seattle is in tune with Starbucks’ compass. Because from down here on the beach in San Diego, the company appears to be misguided.
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Writing a note on a cup sounds like something no one asked for and no one wants. Similar to a certain airline insisting on referring to customers by their first name as they board. In an ideal world, neither would've survived the first brainstorming session.
So incredibly sad…when I worked for Starbucks in the 90’s we crafted our drinks, talked to our customers and Starbucks was considered a funky cool place to work where its partners were really partners, and the stores felt like home for both its customers and its team. Howard Shultz has the right dream but sadly the dream has been lost in the corporate world amid the push for efficiency and profit standards. No wonder my kids seek local coffee now, where the vibe is real and the service is unscripted and authentic.