Starbucks has ordered its corporate staff to work from the office at least four days a week from late September and is offering cash payments to those who choose to quit instead.
Brian Niccol, the chief executive of the Seattle-headquartered coffee chain, said many of its employees would be required to work in the office for a minimum of four days a week, up from three, from Monday to Thursday.
The edict will apply to its Seattle and Toronto support centres and its regional offices in North America. The change does not apply to the UK, where Starbucks has its head office in Chiswick, west London.
“We do our best work when we’re together,” Niccol said in a message to employees, referred to as “partners”, on the company’s website about “re-establishing an in-office culture”. “We want leaders and people managers to be physically present with their teams.”
He added: “Being in-person also helps us build and strengthen our culture. As we work to turn the business around, all these things matter more than ever.”
Starbucks has 16,000 corporate support employees worldwide, including coffee roasters and warehouse staff. It employs about 360,000 people worldwide, including 5,600 in the UK, most of whom work in its cafes.
The four-day office policy will come into effect on 29 September. Niccol, who has been in the job for almost a year, has said he wants to take Starbucks back to its coffeehouse roots by improving customers’ experience in its cafes and reducing reliance on mobile and takeaway orders.
He said: “We know we’re asking a lot of every partner as we work to turn the business around. And we understand that the updated in-office culture may not work for everyone.
“To support those who decide to ‘opt out’, we’re offering a one-time voluntary exit programme with a cash payment for partners who make this choice.” The company did not state the size of the sum.
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A string of businesses in the US and the UK – such as Amazon and HSBC – have ordered their staff back to the office for the majority of the working week. On Tuesday, a survey showed that a fear of having to return to their office desks is having an impact on workers’ wellbeing.
In February, Starbucks asked its vice-presidents who were working remotely to move to Seattle or Toronto. It is now extending this requirement to all support centre “people leaders”, who are expected to relocate within 12 months.
In its previous announcement, Starbucks set out plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees and close several hundred open or vacant job positions, the biggest job cuts in its history, in order to reduce costs as it struggled with rising inflation and economic uncertainty.
Niccol faced environmental criticism last year for his 1,000-mile commute to work in the office three days a week. The company allowed him to travel in from his home in Newport Beach, California, to its head office in Seattle via a private jet instead of relocating. Since then, he has bought a home in Seattle and is frequently seen at the company’s headquarters, a spokesperson told Associated Press.
