barista

shift manager

store manager

surveillant du service alimentaire

manager

Starbucks

I have been employed at Starbucks on a part-time basis for almost a year. Overall, my experience has been a combination of very strong store-level support and culture, paired with significant operational challenges that stem primarily from upper management structure and staffing allocation decisions.

On the positive side, the store-level environment is genuinely one of the strongest aspects of the job. The team I work with is highly collaborative, supportive, and inclusive. There is a clear sense of teamwork among partners, and day-to-day interactions within the store are generally respectful and constructive. My store manager is one of the strongest points of my employment experience. She is consistently approachable, understanding, and accommodating, particularly when it comes to scheduling flexibility and mental health-related considerations. Her leadership style reflects empathy and fairness, and she actively tries to support partners within the constraints she is given.

Customer interactions are also a positive aspect of the role. Many of our regular customers are respectful and pleasant, and I have personally experienced continuity from previous employment, with former customers seeking me out and continuing to visit regularly. This contributes to a more personal and rewarding customer service environment.

The company benefits are also generally strong. The health and dental packages are flexible and allow employees to select coverage based on individual needs. The scheduling system and shift-swapping functionality through the app are efficient and make workforce coordination significantly easier. Internal tools, particularly the in-store iPads and digital resources, are practical and relatively easy to navigate, especially for training and operational support purposes.

However, the most significant and consistent issue is understaffing relative to workload. Since multiple nearby store closures in the region, customer volume at our location has increased substantially. Despite this, staffing allocations and labour budgets have not been adjusted in a way that reflects the current operational reality. Instead, staffing levels appear to remain tied to outdated sales benchmarks that do not account for redistribution of customers across remaining stores. The result is a persistent mismatch between labour coverage and actual demand, particularly during peak periods.

This staffing imbalance places considerable pressure on partners on the floor. Workload intensity is frequently high enough that maintaining service standards becomes difficult without delays or compromised efficiency. The situation also creates ongoing stress during peak hours, where the volume of orders exceeds what the available staffing model is realistically able to support.

In addition to staffing concerns, there is a clear disconnect between performance expectations and operational feasibility set by upper management. There is an ongoing expectation to maintain strong customer connection scores in drive-through interactions while simultaneously achieving low drive times. In practice, these two expectations are often directly contradictory. Meaningful customer engagement requires time, but performance metrics heavily penalize any delays in service speed. This creates an unrealistic standard where partners are effectively expected to prioritize both speed and extended interaction simultaneously, despite the operational conflict between the two.

There is also limited operational flexibility in how partners are permitted to assist one another during high-volume periods. For example, cross-support between stations, such as moving to assist warming or order flow when idle at drive-through, can be discouraged even when it would improve overall efficiency. This rigidity can negatively impact workflow during peak times and contributes to unnecessary delays and bottlenecks.

Additionally, feedback from upper management can sometimes feel disconnected from day-to-day operational reality. Observations such as partner demeanor or appearance, including comments about not smiling enough or appearing disengaged, can feel subjective and unproductive in the context of high-pressure, high-volume service environments. In a fast-paced setting with constant multitasking and time constraints, these types of assessments do not always reflect actual performance or intent.

Overall, while my direct store manager and on-site team are strong, supportive, and effective, the primary issues lie at the structural and district level. Staffing models, performance expectations, and operational constraints do not consistently align with the actual conditions on the floor. This results in avoidable stress for partners and a service environment that is often more difficult than necessary for both employees and customers.

Despite these challenges, I do value the strong team culture at the store level and appreciate the flexibility and benefits provided by the company.

I worked at Starbucks for 3 years. It was my first job so I just assumed that it wasn’t really all that bad. I love working in customer service and I love making coffee but I honestly could never recommend to anyone that they work for this company. Starbucks puts on the facade of being a small, local coffee shop. It pretends to be a place where everyone is welcome and accepted—the third place, if you will. However, don’t let their propaganda fool you. This company is just like any other fast food chain, where the workers are constantly exploited and taken advantage of. For the first year of my employment, I came to work energized and with a positive attitude. I worked hard. I always strived to do the best that I could. But even though I was praised by my coworkers for my friendly attitude and superior work ethic, I, like many of my hardest working friends, was constantly put down by management for not working hard enough, for not having enough “urgency” (even though I took my job far more seriously than I do now, and worked way harder than most people) and for making little mistakes. There were a few months there for a while where I finished at least one shift a week in tears because of how stressful of an environment it was. And that’s far less than some other people I worked with. Not only that, but too often the supervisors (to no fault of their own, they are also victims of this companies malicious labor practices) would ask us to stay late, or even work after hours to finish up the close because we were too busy during the day to get everything done, but still expected us to clock out on-time so as to not get paid overtime. Of course you were never forced to do this, but you certainly felt like a horrible person if you didn’t. It all bakes down to the same core idea: Starbucks is a lie. It continuously tries to be something it’s not. It expects its baristas to make meaningful connections with every single customer, and to take the time to make every moment right… but not more than 30 seconds in order to keep the drive times down. It’s, absolutely repulsive how much they expect of their employees for how little they compensate them. Towards the end of my time as a partner, I was starting to hear the same words from my coworkers quite frequently: Burn-out. This is how we were all feeling. When the pandemic hit, I—a part-time worker—was getting 32-37 hours a week. The problem with this job is that it commands so much of your time and energy but then makes it impossible to work full-time as doing so would quite literally break you. If the job is so difficult that you can’t even work full-time, then how is it that baristas are still making minimum wage? And by the way, an extra dollar or two is still essentially just minimum wage. No one deserves the amount of stress that this job puts you under especially not for what comes out to less than the cost of living. What ultimately did it for me was my store’s policies during the pandemic. I know a lot of people hate the restrictions, but they exist for a reason. And when my province made the awful decision to lift the mask mandate, obviously Starbucks followed suit. I understand the desire to go back to normal, but for some people, this was the new normal. And it just seems so treacherous for a company that prides itself on diversity and inclusivity, to be so ableist and exclusive. As if those who are immunocompromised don’t deserve the same rights as everyone else. It was the last straw on a long list of grievances I had, and it took a lot of courage to stand up to management and finally quit. Don’t get me wrong, I value the experience I obtained from my time there. I feel like Starbucks has turned me into hardened veteran of the customer service industry. And I love and miss my ex-coworkers dearly. However, I now see Starbucks for what it is, and won’t be going back anytime soon. Oh, and don’t get me started on the customers…

I worked for 8 years as a Barista. My overall experience with Starbucks in general for atleast my first 6 years were enjoyable. Its a great starting job and teaches you relevant skills that opens a variety of options in the customer service industry down the road. I have seen the best and worse of Starbucks. I have made some good friends and compromised with several obstacles in Starbucks. By obstacles I mean people.

 Mind you this is my personal experience but how such backwards people can be put into management is beyond me. I witnessed horrible backstabbing as a small group of managers backstab another Assistant manager in the district to ensure she didn't get a promotion, Baristas/Shift managers including myself putting up with horrible management and having absolutely nothing done about it and office politics that rivaled Ugly Betty. A barista and acquaintance of mine was forced to do Open/Closes, Consistently given extra work (Beyond her 40hrs), Off the clock duties, consistent belittling in front of staff and absolutely zero regard for human dignity. after +1 year battle with HR they eventually just trasnferred her and the manager works there to this day. 

For myself I was offered shift manager position maybe a total of 3-4 times by other stores who saw the effort and detail i put into my job. However I was determined to fight for an open position in my own store which I thought was possible. I had 6 years of experience under my belt at the time and a total of 4 months of shift development along with a myriad of extra responsibilities from another manager. Unfortunately that manager was transferred out and I was offered a "fair" consideration for the next one. I wasn't, out of the door this manager hated Men (im a male). Even the new hires no more older than 1-2 weeks saw that she was particularly harsh with men and always batted an eye with the female staff. I FOUGHT for this position, but I knew she would never consider me. So I opted to transfer to another position at a closer location to home. I worked a total of 4 shifts with that store, the staff saw my experience, did an interview with the manager, the manager himself talked about scheduling me a few weeks out...Until he got a phone call from my manager finalizing the transfer. Guess what? I came into the store to pick up my new schedule for the place to see that nothing fell through AND THIS IS HOW I HAD TO FIND OUT? I had to do my own investigation that I was 2 weeks off the schedule at my own store, not on-staff on the new one, 1 paycheck short of rent? Are you serious? a few days later I find out that i was never transferred and that the managers had some communication which was never brought to my attention. 

Why do backwards people always get into management?
I've outlasted 5 managers, my first rage quit the company(he was excellent), my second took the first job she could out of there, my third was a pedophile who was let go, my fourth went crazy, my fifth was superb and my 6th...you know the story.

Anyways to the present, I worked for 1 more year after that trying to turn things around. No regards, apparently after 1 year of SERIOUS improvement to my own skills I rate a 1.5 out of 4 stars. I quit. I risk homelessness, I am rock bottom AND I AM HAPPIER. Because I know from the bottom I can move up, instead of where I was before. 
An Honest Review.

Working for Starbucks: you love working with the partners because you have workplace trauma and you don't want anyone to suffer. Managers are forced to meet weekly and monthly needs, and many managers will put that stress on the employees. Your schedule can change 8-12 hours before a shift and many times no notice is given. If you are sick or cannot make your shift, minimum 4-7 hours must be given to call in. The company would like you the sick person to find coverage but phone numbers to call the people you are working with are not made public also
paid sick days are  the 5 days Government paid days off. If you are sick you  may use your vacation pay if you have any to use to cover your sick days. You need to book 3 months in advance for holidays and  those are not guaranteed. You will  do the work of 4 people on average and a promotion is becomeing a shift supervisor whether you are good or not. Shift positions are not better than a barista position, you lose a lot of freedom becoming a shift supervisor and the extra 4-5 dollars an hour is not worth the stress. 
This job caters to and gives more flexibility to International students
 and students in general than it does to anyone who is looking for fulltime positions. 
Most stores only have 2-3 fulltime positions available in a store with 20+ employees.
I became part of the Food Health and Safety committee, making sure we were working in the best environment possible, customers did not like to hear that we adhere to company policies in the making and serving products, many customers will be more than happy to call corporate and complain about your service causing you more  undue stress. If you get a write up, they will last for 6 months. If you get more than 3 writeups in a year you may be fired. It is hard to get rid of partners that cause stress to other partners, if you have issues with anyone at work you will find it time consuming and difficult to have anyone hear you or be willing to do what is right ( management )
The job become failry easy after 3-4 months full time work. You learn the routines and if you are smart you will ask questions when you don't know what to do. Only a handful of customers deserve your smiles and best service, too many others are more than happy to make you life miserable and make you cry.
Before working in any job, I highly suggest sitting in the shop at all hours, days of the week so you can see how they work as a group and how the customers are. Good luck.

shortage of work 5-7 months of the year, slow stores means less people working on the floor which means one person doing the job of 4-5 people, larger stores high turnover of employees and product. Out of stock 
often, rude and difficult customers, exhaustion creating burnout if you work fulltime. 
You may have liked working with the public prior to starting, by the end of 6 months 
you will find you are not as happy and see the company from a totally different angle.
 

I have always been a fan of Starbucks for the atmosphere and friendly staff, which is why I chose to apply to work there.

A typical day of work included grinding coffee beans for drip coffee, adding whole beans to the hot coffee bar for espresso drinks, and assembling the machine (the parts are sterilized and stored overnight). Setting up the pastry display (some of this was done after the store opened).

After opening the store we serve the customers their coffee drinks (many of the early morning people are regular customers), serve pastries and foods.

Either working on cash (which includes serving and preparing drip coffee, heating and serving pastries and foods), hot bar (espresso machine), or cold bar (frappucino and iced beverages). All staff will clean up as much as possible. There was a task list which included all of the cleaning tasks to be done each day. Some tasks were performed more than once every day (including cleaning washrooms, dishes, and washing/sweeping the floors).

I learned to create very delicious coffee, tea, and non-coffee beverages. I also learned about Starbucks' history, and about different types of coffees from different regions, and how the different types of coffees are harvested and dried, which affects the tastes.

The hardest part of the job was when other staff members did not do their jobs. An example is where was one girl who didn't like doing the front of store work, including helping customers and making drinks, would hide in the back room texting or calling, or being on the floor (customer area) flirting with her boyfriend. This girl was not a manager or supervisor, but she worked at the company for a long time and had a lot of influence. After I talked to her and the supervisors about how I was left alone to do all of the work, nothing changed. The atmosphere became negative, and it wasn't the way Starbucks should be. It affected the level of customer service, and the mind set of all staff members. So I left the company. The wages are also low. When I started the wage was $9/hour, which was minimum wage at the time. But the first time I applied to work for Starbucks the wage was $8/hour (before minimum wage was raised). Although they talk about fair wages and treating farmers well, they should pay their employees more than minimum wage. It is a job that has a lot of learning and there is a lot of work to be done. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and busy. They deserve more than minimum wage,

My manager and coworkers were very kind and fun to be around. The manager was really nice and understanding. She called us her girls and tried her best to accommodate everyone's needs. Even the girl who did not see eye-to-eye with me, was also a really nice girl, and she was very competent, when she did work. But our work personalities were not compatible.

The most enjoyable part of the job was when customers were happy with the service and goods provided to them. It was also enjoyable having fun with coworkers, and learning about coffee.

A typical day at work might go as such; you arrive at the cafe to find your schedule had been changed without your notice, you are scolded and told to check the app daily. you step on to the floor, wash your hands, and are assigned to a station,
you take notice that the cafe is understaffed even though many of your colleagues are available and have requested to work these hours.
You carry on your duties and most things go smoothly.
Once the rush is over you clean your station and wash your hands again, you are informed by a shift-supervisor that management is currently experiencing a schism,
with your store management giving new rules that reference non-existent corporate policy and threatening harsh repercussions on anyone who doesn't follow along, and upper levels arguing that such rules are unnecessary or even harmful to  flow of work. you conform to the managers new rules anyway, as you'd rather not risk your job over such a thing.
a rush starts again and you struggle to keep up with orders a bit, but still manage to get everyone their drinks in good time and perfect state.
The rest of the shift continues in a cycle of rush and calm, with only a few incidents.

 Something unfortunate that often happens to barristas at starbucks is h*r*ssm*nt,
this h*r*ssm*nt typically comes from customers.
it includes cruel language, s*x**l comments and advances, and occasionally touching. 
during my short employment with starbucks I experienced all of the above, and it was my belief that company policy excused and reinforced this h*r*ssm*nt, with management telling me time and time again that I was not allowed to refuse to serve any individual no matter what they did or said to me.
I hope that this has changed but if it has not it should be.

workplace culture is otherwise typically very good. there is usually comradery between all employees at a cafe and any animosity is short lived and quickly put aside  in favour of keeping peace. although there was during my employment a trend of the morning shift and closing shifts disliking one-an-other, and management could sometimes be a bit much.

the hardest part of the job is probably getting up to speed, literally, you will need to be able to perform every task and quickly as possible with out compromising quality. this is extremely challenging and you will need to multitask and look pleasant and make small talk.

the most enjoyable part of the job is when you have a well staffed cafe on a slow day, being able to really connect with patrons and chat with colleagues without fearing that there won't be enough time to get things done.

overall, I would not recommend working at starbucks, while there are a good few pros, the company is not a very good one and most likely lies about the ethicality of it's coffee and many other things.
  you would probably be better off working for any locally owned cafe. 
a 1.5 out of 5 stars company if i ever saw one.
 

I worked for Starbucks for 3 years, 2 in Vernon and 1 in Kelowna. Training was very rushed in the beginning but done pretty decently. I was at a store where the majority of my co workers had been working there for 5 years or over which made many of them extremely entitled and rude for about 6 months until they warmed up to me. So the first 6 months were pretty much torture and made it EXTREMLY stressful and hard to get better in such a fast paced environment. After that grace period however, I met a lot of life long friends and great people while working there, and the work got a lot easier. I think working for Starbucks definitely helped shape my work attitude and ethic in a positive way, but there are definitely some things that really bother me about some of the systems put in place. I worked for them for 3 years and before I left, I was maybe 30 cents above minimum wage. Don’t ever expect your salary as a barista to get any higher because it won’t. They claim to give you 2% raises every 6-8 months roughly but when they do, they don’t transfer that raise when minimum wage is raised, so very time that happens you’re back to square one. Your wage increases as a shift supervisor, but don’t expect it to get any higher after that. Additionally, they actually lowered the raise rate to 1% before I left. The benifits help ease this blow to your pay check and honestly that’s probably the way they get away with it, but addictive, sub-par coffee beans doesn’t pay the rent. This makes it very common for people at Starbucks to get second jobs. I always felt like I was putting in so much work and got nothing back for it. No one except for same-level baristas appreciated my effort. Additionally, my manager used to purposefully give me less hours so she wouldn’t have to give me health benefits. I would recommend making it very clear that you need those hours so you can get those benifits when you get hired there. Another problem is the standards only certain people were held to. Managers know the weaker links and the stronger ones but let the weaker ones get away with so much. That being said it is very hard to get fired from Starbucks, you’d have to do something outrageous. I would say that more than half the costumers I saw were rude and annoying , so that’s another thing to prepare for. I would say this job is great for high school students and maybe first or second year university students, just because of their flexible scheduling and the ability to transfer stores, but I would not recommend being there for longer than a couple years if you make it that far without getting so annoyed with the system you quit. It takes decades to move up the latter at Starbucks so any salary that would make it worth is completely out of reach unless you’re insane and love being broke. I don’t regret working for Starbucks, but I regret staying as long as I did.

The typical day at Starbucks as a store manager was shaped by the expectations relayed to the store manager by the district manager, which in turn were determined by the key initiatives of the company on the one hand, and the flow of business on the other. For me, those factors resulted in working shifts from approximately 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday's were our administrative days. I was required to schedule and monitor labor, use our retail hourly hiring system to identify potential candidates to interview, hire, and train,  analyze P&L statements, as well as weekly tracking systems to identify strengths, and opportunities of the business, and to read, communicate, and delegate any key tasks relayed to the team from head office. On other days, the store manager acted as a shift supervisor. This involved general opening tasks, monitoring inventory as I placed the daily food and milk orders, deploying partners to key positions based on their individual strengths during peak hours, run breaks, and calculate, record, and deposit the till drops. Central to everyday was the needs of our customers. I led the floor by example by standing on the till, or expediting service to ensure that I was providing a smile, and doing everything I could to ensure that any customer that left our store left feeling that they had had a legendary experience.

This position furnished me with the opportunity to attend several top of the line management courses, and therefore I learned a great deal about inventory management, scheduling labor, identifying potential candidates for recruitment, coaching partners with respect to performance, and operating a sense of urgency as a leader.

I reported directly to the district manager. Our district manager was herself a tenured starbucks partner with a sharp eye for detail, a desire to teach, and an outstanding ability to instill a sense of confidence, and personal responsibility in her team.

I had the pleasure of building appropriate, professional working relationships with the team I was selected to lead. I communicated, set, and followed up on the expectations given me by our head office, and sought to instill the same pride, confidence, and sense of responsibility in my team that my district manager instilled in me.

The most challenging aspect of the job was the tax on one's personal life that management in retail can take. Some weeks the business needs required me to work 70+ hours. 

The most rewarding aspect of the job was the opportunity to bring a little light into somebody's day, and the successful execution of that goal. To make a person smile with something as simple as a cup of coffee; to be an oasis from the noise of daily life was truly a privelege.

I worked for a café only store, but would fill in for other stores (mostly drive-thru) occasionally. I was with the company for approx. 1.5 years. I quit after a change of management in my store created chaos 🙂

The environment is really fast paced with the drive-thru, and depending on your area and manager, likely purposely understaffed. They have scheduling system guidelines that often don't line up with the actual work required. Upper-level management is also frequently 'problematic' to say the least >> very few good beans. There is little reason to anything implemented other than to serve public image.

The co-pay benefits are quarterly average time-based so many managers will under-work part timers to avoid giving them benefits. There are few official rules on what management is allowed to do in regards to your schedule & it is upto them to be fair, timely, efficient, and organized. 

The actual tasks themselves are easy to learn and do, but some managers will expect you to multi-task to an unreasonable degree ~ then punish you for not keeping up with these conditions. This is doubly true when they neglect to remember that the store is understaffed that day/shift.

Getting promoted/raises are often given out through favoritism rather than performance, reliability, time with the company, etc. Shift managers are also routinely forced to 'compete' against eachother & against their other coworkers best interests in order to get the best 'scores' (sale times). 

All that said, if you are lucky & get hired with a good team the job itself is super fun. I learned a lot of barista skills! I also had a great manager that worked with my college schedule. My shift-managers were amazing people who understood my needs & helped coordinate our team efficiently ~ we weren't overworked or bored very often as everyone had a say in how/when they worked.

If you are looking to work at Starbucks ~ café only is generally easier & provides better barista training. There is simply never time in drive-thru stores. The customers are also, usually, a lot nicer.
Ask people in your city/town about the work-experience of specific stores & apply there. If you want to work at a specific store, apply there & DO NOT BUDGE. Store-transfers are honestly quite rare, and again based on how well-liked you are.

Oh and that on-shift paid coffee tasting? Never happens lol. If you have  a nice manager you'll probably just do free taste testing on new menu items so you can describe it for customers.

All in all, the general soul-sucking experience of working for an international multi-million dollar company. Firm boundaries, there are other jobs willing to pay minimum wage for less work ~ the real benefit is free coffee and the people you're working with. If the environment is super stressful ~ RUN.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I had a really terrible experience. I found it to be less inclusive than they portray themselves. They are often understaffed and underprepared for the volume of business. Employees are unhappy with the state of the company and the company is aggressively pushing back against the employees wish to unionize. Toxic work environment. I did not feel supported, just used. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The stores are often understaffed and underprepared for the volume of business. Important equipment is often broken, technology pieces are often down. Product outages and irregular delivery schedules hamper the work day. The store is scheduled for everything to go perfectly, but it never does and there is no plan in place for when things go wrong. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Two faced. They call you a "partner", but treat you like an employee. There call it "Partner Relations", but don't kid yourself it's Human Resources, just like every other company. They say they are "A different kind of Company", they are not. They present an inclusive image, but they often operate in the interest of share holders rather than workers. Gossip and lies drive the decisions by corporate managers who are rarely in the stores and when they are in the stores it is for a limited time; when store managers have "set the stage" and hid what's wrong. There is a disconnect between head office and the actual work in the stores. It is stress full to work in the stores. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It never ends. You are on call 24/7. There is no work life balance. Your co-workers can be pulled to support other failing stores at any minute, leaving you unsupported for days or months. You can start getting calls as early as 4:00am and they may not stop until 12am. They'll tell you that you can set boundaries, but you can't, unless you want to ignore your workers, who keep reaching out with schedule changes at the last minute, store technology failures, equipment failures, delivery mishaps, product outages; but you will be fired if you do not spend your days off, your vacation, responding and supporting. Store Managers are both front line workers and Managers. There are so many issues. The company uses your labour to keep Hourly labour costs lower. Even the best managers get stuck working long hours on the front lines, due to a poor scheduling system. Eventually they'll burn you out, may take a year, you could tough it out for 2 to 10 yrs, but they will burn you out.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Barista 232 salaries reported	$18.24 per hour
Shift manager 41 salaries reported	$20.49 per hour
Store manager 12 salaries reported	$70,068 per year
Surveillant du service alimentaire 8 salaries reported	$22.67 per hour
Manager 7 salaries reported	$69,286 per year

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