Starbucks HQ workers challenge return-to-office rollout
Workers at Starbucks Corp.'s (Nasdaq: SBUX) Sodo headquarters are the latest in Seattle to protest their company's return-to-office mandate.
In January, Howard Schultz, back in his third stint as CEO, announced he was calling the coffee giant's 3,750 local corporate workers back three days a week. On Wednesday, a group of employees, who are referred to within the company as partners, posted an open letter to Starbucks leaders urging them to reverse the policy, in a "true return to our core values."
"Partners planned their lives around this promise of flexibility, including moving further away from the office, selling their cars, and reducing or eliminating childcare," they wrote.
The letter, which accompanied a petition signed by 83 employees as of Wednesday evening, exemplifies the tense dynamic between employers and workers as companies re-think the future of hybrid work and their own investments in office space. In Seattle, nearly 15,000 Amazon workers, including principal engineers and directors, have joined a Slack channel advocating for the company to reverse its return-to-office plans, set to take effect in May.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2023/03/01/starbucks-return-to-work-complaints.html
