Starbucks Demands Corporate Staff Return to the Office Or Risk Being Fired

While Starbucks is sticking to a three-day in-office work week, they're getting serious about corporate employees showing up when they say they're going to. Skipping your mandated three days can have serious consequences, too.

It's been in effect for almost two years, but Starbucks is getting serious about the mandate in January. That's when Starbucks will implement a “standardized process” to hold workers accountable if they don’t abide by the return-to-office policy, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.

In his first staff address, new CEO Brian Niccol said that workers could work where they needed to be, but where they needed to be was likely the office. Apparently not everyone agreed with that, so now comes the order to get into the office ... or else. Workers in violation can face up to, and including, separation. In other words, not coming into the office can lead to being fired.

Good news: There's a little leeway here, though not a lot. Two of those days need to be Tuesday and Wednesday, and the third is be up to individual teams. "It is a shift designed to preserve the flexibility and productivity that you’ve built through your work-at-home rituals while, at the same time, bringing us together in a synchronized way for the in-person work that’s vital for our future success," former CEO Howard Schultz wrote in an e-mail.

If you're grumbling about your commute, Niccol's might have you beat. He's still based in Newport Beach, California, but flies 1,000 miles to Seattle. But chances are, most of us don't use the corporate jet for our commute or bring in a base salary of $1.6 million per year plus a signing bonus of $10 million and performance-based bonuses up to $7.2 million and equity awards worth up to $100 million. 

Not that well. For the third consecutive quarter, Starbucks’ same-store sales fell, and this quarter’s 7% decline was its steepest drop since the pandemic. Pumpkin spice lattes haven't resulted in a bump, either. Niccol plans to simplify the brand's “overly complex menu,” fix its pricing, and make sure all of its drinks are handed directly to customers in response to customer and barista complaints. “We believe that our problems are very fixable and that we have significant strengths to build on,” Niccol said in prepared remarks posted on the company’s website. 

Starbucks joins a growing list of companies demanding that employees return to the office in some capacity. From Amazon to Zoom (ironically a company that helps make work-from-home possible for many), companies of all sizes are issuing return-to-work mandates. Some require a few days in the office like Starbucks, while others are insisting on a five-day workweek for many employees. 

While many CEOs argue that in-person work boosts productivity and company morale, reports suggest return-to-work mandates have the opposite effect among employees.

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