Starbucks Strike
 

I see more automation coming.......bodies are not needed to make coffee.

We had a coffee machine at work that seemed to have as many options as a Starbucks. Not big enough to replace an entire store but not far from it either.

Yepper

Saw some machines at hotels........about the size of a college refrig, about a dozen options.

Not much more technology needed to fifty options plus drive-up vs. walk-in services.

Bye starbucks

Bye, not Buy.

The logic in this thread is faulty. I have a coffee maker at home that can make better coffee than Starbucks can, for a fraction of the price. But when I'm out, and want a latte, or a chocolate croissant, or one of those weird heated chicken and some kind of pesto sandwiches, I find Starbucks to be a convenient option. Especially if I'm picking up a few things at Target, since they have a Starbucks right there in the store.

I prefer the human contact to a machine, when I'm out and paying for something other than groceries (then, I prefer the self-serve). The Starbucks back home had a corner section with a couch and loveseat and coffee table where people would read a People magazine they've bought, and leave it for other customers to read. The store had a subscription to 6 copies of the daily newspaper for customers to read as well. It was absolutely a relaxing experience, even if there was a line to get your food. Taylor Swift showed up to the store one day, unannounced, and it was the big headline in the town's paper that week.

The baristas were all hard-working and well-trained, with solid customer service skills.

So while I'm absolutely NOT a fan of their coffee, I get why people are. And I get why people congregate there. The problem as I read it in the Times magazine article, is short-staffing. On one of the busiest days of the year for Starbucks (Red Cup Day), the corporation has chosen to NOT increase the number of employees on the day's shifts. So they have to deal with a significant increase in customers in drive-through, pick-up, and in-store orders, without enough staff to cover it all.

It poses a safety hazard because they just flat out don't have TIME to clean up. A single fallen ice cube left to melt on the floor could mean a broken leg for a barista and dozens of customers being told "no service" while the ambulance has to sort it all out.

They don't necessarily need many more staff per store, but even one employee per shift extra whose job is ONLY to clean the dining area and back of the bar, and see to keeping the coffee roasting and product stocked, would go a long way to making customers happy, keeping employees safe, and maintaining an efficient, professional, and pleasant atmosphere for both. But Corporate has refused to provide the hours to accommodate an extra person per shift on this, the busiest day of their year.

Automation can take your order.
Automation can give you any coffee type you want.
Automation can pick your sandwich and deliver it to you.

The point is............push belly button costs up, automation will take over.
May not be an elimination, jus a reduction of bodies.

Jus look at the UAW.
Jus look at Amazon (& many other distribution centers).

I have not been in a Starbucks in a dozen years. I drink a couple cups of coffee at home in the morning and that is it for me. Truthfully, I never cared for Starbucks coffee. It may be laced with extra caffeine to keep folks returning for another jolt, I do not know or care.

Don’t forget McDonalds. California has signed a new law bumping up minimum wage to $20 per hour next year for fast food workers, and McDonalds quickly indicated that they will have to look at additional work process efficiencies with their owner operators. Certainly less people will have jobs. I would not be surprised if the old walk up window is brought back and the inside seating closed to further reduce bodies at $20 per hour.

A Starbucks Keurig, k-cup box of 72 comes out to $.40 each. I’m a Barista every morning

Maybe it's been there a while.............went to UPS Store today for an Amazon return.

It is 100% self-serve...............no human interaction.

Newman’s Own Special blend k cups $44 for 96 k cups. I make 2 cups of coffee with one k cup. Costs 23 cents per cup, can’t tell the difference between the overpriced snooty west coast designer coffee. Who cares about Starbucks?

Like anything else, it's personal preference, and nothing more. I enjoy Starbucks occasionally, and judging from the daily line of cars in the drive through at their 466 and 466A locations, a lot of other people like it as well.

"Starbucks' gross profit for the year ending December 31, 2022, was $22.313 billion, marking a 5.52% increase year-over-year. The company's gross profit increased by 7.93% in 2021 to $21.933 billion."

I knew I should've invented a coffee company :)

Not to mention they offer a lot more than just coffee. They have pastries and granola, sandwiches, gourmet packaged snack bars and popcorns, a variety of non-coffee beverages, egg things, and if you get there early enough, ham and cheese croissants. Many workers in the area stop there for a cup and a croissant on their way to work.

You mean Starbucks can't get people to pay more than $8 for a cup of their sugar mud? Go figure.

Like going to the movies instead of streaming at home Starbucks is a social contact experience. Look around at the LSL location.

I think you (and some others) are missing the point. The argument isn't that Starbucks will close, the argument is that you don't need a warm body to make a cup of coffee. If the warm bodies demand too much they will be replaced by automation.

The social aspect with Starbucks shouldn't be between the customers and the baristas. The baristas should not be spending enough time interacting with the customers to be considered a social contact experience. If they are then they need to be replaced by someone/something that will talk less and work more.

The social contact experience at Starbucks, if any, should be between the customers at their tables; human baristas are not needed for that.

Never cared for Bigbucks coffee, tastes bitter to me..

My point has nothing to do with the baristas and their social contact. It was about how having a cup at home is not the same as the social experience of being with others. Referencing LSL was an example of how people enjoy Starbucks not just for the coffee but also for interacting with other people at the tables provided. Think European cafes.

And my point is that this thread is not suggesting that Starbucks will close.

Did it ever dawn on you these companies are doing this because they can't find workers? Companies like UPS get it and are doing everything to keep the workers they do have happy. From UPS:
ATLANTA – UPS (NYSE: UPS) has a long history of driving innovations that propel its business and bring industry-leading solutions to logistics. Today the company announced ways it is strengthening its network capabilities and enhancing employee experience through automation. UPS is leveraging technology to help reduce repetitive tasks and physical stress while promoting safety for the company’s employees. The technologies will also improve package flow and overall efficiency of the UPS network.

Hate to break it to you all but it's not the 1980s anymore where there were 15 people for every job.

He didn't say the UPS store was automated, he said it was self-serve. Kind of like the Walmart checkout - there is still a person doing the same motions and using the same scanner, but now that person is you.

Sure, I can type, print, and attach my own label to a box that I had to assemble, tape, fill, and add packing to and then put the box in an outgoing bin. There's no reason I can't do all that and there is some value to having all the materials in the same place but I am certainly getting less value for my money.

Quit calling me Dawn.

Large companies would actually love to eliminate as many employees as possible and let machines handle everything. "Fixed costs", no attitude, no strikes, no breaktimes, etc.

"enhancing employee experience through automation" :1rotfl::1rotfl:
Don't believe everything you read.


There are so many benefits of eliminating belly-buttons for tasks.