To keep it simple, a Starbucks store manager is overworked, underpaid, and constantly stressed. As a salaried manager, you are expected to work on the floor as a barista for 30+ hours, and still complete administrative tasks like scheduling, payroll, training, and numerous district calls that last for over an hour, multiple days a week. Work life balance as a store manager is non existent. You are constantly on call, every week you will feel like you are trying to get shifts covered because somebody is always calling out. You will have to wake up at 3 or 4am if you’re opening barista doesn’t show up, or one of the partners has a question that nobody else can answer but you. Sometimes this happens on your days off. Other times you may need to answer a 4am phone call when you have to be up for your own shift in just a few hours. The company does not give its managers the time they need in order to properly operate and grow their business. It is a constant struggle between trying to be on the floor for your team, and keeping up with the ever changing needs of the business, or the constant stream of communication and process changes the district manager wants you to implement. At best, you are playing catch up everyday and always having to make last minute adjustments because a barista gave you a no notice resignation, didn’t show up for a shift, or changed their availability last minute. Starbucks has also implemented a “customer connection score” system that allows customers to take a survey and answer if the barista made an attempt to get to know them during their visit. This is a major metric used in order to gauge your success as a leader, but it’s implementation is flawed and only adds to the stress when you’re scores are lowered. For one, you have no control over who receives the survey, as it is random. Also, if the customer doesn’t “strongly agree”, the positive feedback doesn’t count. You are looked down upon for a metric that is for the most part, largely out of your control, and can fluctuate drastically week to week. Starbucks does everything in their power to seem like mental health advocates for their partners, yet their lack of clear communication, overloading their leaders and baristas, and constant pressure to put profits over people, they are directly responsible for a majority of mental health issues their partners face. I have had partners break down and cry, have anxiety and panic attacks, and even have to be out of work for weeks at a time because their mental health was taking such a huge hit. I think the company has completely lost sight of what makes customer interaction genuine, and are too concerned with preparing for the after effects of mentally drained and damaged employees, rather than do their parts to make sure the work environment doesn’t create those issues in the first place. You are only a manager in title at Starbucks. For a majority of your time, you will be a high paid barista who is still responsible for all the administrative tasks that keep the store running.
