yeah, i have been there for almost a year and i’m considering leaving as well. :(

I mean, everywhere is hiring so if there was ever a time to quit this is it. If you hate it, find something you don't hate so you can pay your bills AND enjoy your life.

Starbucks is miserable, decent benefits but it doesn’t make it up for the shit baristas have to deal with.

It is hard to find your vibe zone for this job. But day 2 can be super overwhelming, and Starbucks is already a stressful place to work. Trying to keep yourself in a good vibe while doing your job takes a bit, because just learning how to do the job takes a bit. People who have been working there 3+ years are still learning and discovering new things all the time! So if you can, focus on learning how to do the stuff there but don't beat yourself up if you are having a hard time getting stuff down. Because it's much easier to find your vibe range if you actually have a grasp of what's going on and how your coworkers operate with each other. It's something that comes with time ngl. Like about 3 months in, I started picking up and learning how to time myself with my coworker of that day's pace so it ran as smoothly as I could make it. Making things on my end run as smoothly as possible is really something that makes it much easier for me personally to keep my vibe going. No matter what the customers seem to love to imply, this job is not easy and they could not do it themselves as fast and as good as we do. Not to mention this job wears on you a lot. It doesn't matter if you're the most mentally and physically healthy person on this earth, this job WILL wear you down. What kept me going for as long as I did was that the financial freedom I got from working there out-balanced the stress from the job itself. Eventually, I had to stop because I am allergic to the vanilla syrup we use, but I was planning to quit very soon anyways. The allergy just did what I didn't have the energy to do, it made my mind know that I absolutely could not stay anymore and had to quit.

But I want you to know, for anyone reading this that if you feel this way, there's nothing wrong with you. It's not because you can't do the job right, or that you are just barely too slow, or that you are just weak and can't handle the stress. It was never you. Corporate has/is actively showing how little they care about their employees. They are trying to find more ways to cut down on the staff allowed on the floor at once, they are not requiring customers to wear masks and only the baristas wearing masks is not super effective (my store is closed for COVID right now for the second time this pandemic), they change things with no regard to how it will affect the work pace and have a very horrible chain of communication so our store managers end up not knowing until they get their asses chewed for something they were never told, and while they are finding ways to lessen staff on the floor they are also adding onto the already extreme workload.

They have also effectively abandoned their motto. They have also made the cafe much less welcoming for customers. Just, icky vibes compared to what it used to be.

I hope that whoever in corporate is making these decisions gets the huge amount of hell fire coming to them. Because baristas are pouring out the doors, soon they will have no one to run their stores. And that's if the customers don't stop coming first. Many regulars come to sit and have a nice cup of coffee with their friends, sit down with a whole group, or come there for a nice place to get away from their house to a calming atmosphere with amazing smells to get their work done. And that's just the atmosphere, I haven't even gotten to them discontinuing many favorites or good items that customers love.

Local coffee shops, now is your chance to take back your towns. Starbucks has gotten far to big for its britches and is fucking up in so many major ways. Poach their tired baristas and treat them right, and those baristas will have other baristas flooding to your doorstep with applications in hand. And the regulars who love to see those baristas when they discover they are all gone will come to your store to visit them, and maybe they might even make your store their new Starbucks. But those regulars will tell others about how good your place is, and all the sudden your local Starbucks is closed and your shop is thriving. Take back our space and cleanse it of that horrid, capitalistic, no shits given corporation.

I've been with the company for 2 years and had to move to a drive thru a few months ago. I hate it. I'm quitting tomorrow because I just can't do it anymore.

Lol I worked at Starbucks for 3 months. I worked for 2 weeks at one location for my training, and then went to another, I never even got to learn bar because they were always too busy to train me. The managers didn’t care though and in that 3 months my Starbucks went through three different GM’s 😩 It was a total disaster and now I work at a different coffee shop and I finally know how to be a barista. I have some friends who work at other locations and they really like it though. Maybe just try to stick with it until your training is finished and then dip out if it doesn’t get better?

I've only been here 2 months and hate it lol

Quitting starbucks was so amazing. Honestly, there has to be a limit for "customer is always right" and Starbucks doesn't care for their employees. I worked during college and ppl there were so bitter. Hope you quit soon and find something way better.

don’t break yourself for minimum wage. there are other min wage jobs that are less stressful! they may be harder to find/more competitive but you deserve something that won’t overwhelm your mental health. good luck my friend

If your city/town has one I would recommend the Starbucks in a target. Less benefits, but higher pay. And no drive thru! This was huge for me because I had someone try to attack me at my old job in a drive thru. It’s still stressful and you don’t get the free drinks/food, but you won’t have to clean the restrooms.

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First week as a green bean is always stressful! There’s SO MUCH to learn, especially if you don’t have fast food experience (that was my case). If you’re looking to keep working, I’d recommend taking pictures of the tabs on the POS and studying them. Memorizing where things were helped me a ton! Plus, after enough bar practice it starts to make more sense. I ended up switching from morning to mid/night shifts because I got pretty overwhelmed at peak when I was starting out. I promise it gets easier the more you learn and practice, plus you have more experienced coworkers you can always ask questions! A lot of my coworkers have sensory issues (me included) and sometimes have to step away/take a ten early (we’re lucky to have really cool ssvs and a super understanding sm). Let you supervisor know if you get overwhelmed, too, and they may be able to put you in a different position! I definitely cried a few times. Of course, if it gets to be too much, you can always try to find a different job. Good luck! My heart goes out to ya!

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My first two weeks were miserable, but I started getting the hang of it by week 3. I’m a month and a half in and I feel much more confident and I actually have fun at work now. Be patient with yourself, don’t do things faster than you can, focus on doing things correctly, not quickly, and let the more experienced baristas step in and help you when you’re really struggling.

That’s your shift’s fault for putting you there too soon /:

Do it now if you can. The harder you stay, the harder it is to leave, but it's worth the change. Best of luck to you regardless of your choice

I quit after 4 months, couldn't take this shit anymore

What, exactly, makes it so unbearable? Asking as a seasoned barista who's tired of watching new hires bounce w/in three months.

I'm also a green bean. Had my third day yesterday and they pretty much threw me to the wolves. It got hectic and I had to dissociate. I'm not letting this job stress me out, no freaking way. As for memorizing the recipes, it's just something I'm slowly picking up as I go. When no one is being helpful I just look em up on Quizlet lol.

I had high hopes for this job, and was planning on moving up in the company but once I saw how baristas got treated on the daily I got angrier and angrier until I quit. 6 months as a shift lead and never got trained the way I needed to, 3 more months as a braista before I quit. Before I worked at a corporate store I worked for a year at a kiosk and loved it. (The kiosk was owned by a different company)

I’ve made it 10 months. Not a week goes by I don’t want to quit. On the rare occasion that we are staffed well for the volume of food and beverages, it can be an enjoyable job. But because staffing hours are earned based on transactions, rather than sales or units sold, we are always understaffed. It makes for a miserable shift 95% of the time.

it’s super stressful and i think the training is misleading because at least in my experience, they show you everything once (if they even show you at all) and then throw you to the wolves. you have to bother everyone by asking questions if you want to know how to do something in the middle of a very busy period which can be super overwhelming and not everyone is okay with that type of learning experience. like I’ve only done drive-thru twice when it wasnt very busy and only did one side at a time (order or window) and just today after only one week on the job I had to solo during a super busy period AND warm food because the dude at warming was slacking (I guess he was also new). I like it here so far and most of that is due to the other baristas and chill management/supervisors but Starbucks is definitelyyyy not for everyone. there a many jobs out there that are less demanding and don’t require so many months before you feel like you can actually do the job correctly

The difference in terms of tone/expectations on the staffing side is night and day from even 5-7 years ago (and that was an evolution from the earlier era/s).

The pendulum will likely swing back again, though I have no idea when, or what will drive it. Every time I think about returning to pick up a few hours/week...I don't.

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edit: the training regime...don't get me started. Talk about changes that are not helping, this is top of the list. Change is a must in any business/company, and sometimes it has to happen quickly, but this was not a change of the helpful sort. I am almost certain it was driven by pressure related to returns on shares, streamlining, etc. buzzwords of that nature (don't ask, I don't feel like writing out the specifics). In short, this feels like a shortcut meant to save money on a spreadsheet by someone who either doesn't recognize or has no power to highlight the relationship between good product & happy customer and training. There is only so much a machine can do, no matter how many machines and how few people \*the people you do have working must be able to recognize what makes a product a quality item and have the knowledge/experience to troubleshoot when it is not being met\*. That type of knowledge is not conveyed in the current training. The number of pumps or scoop of ice for a particular recipe is important, but it does not replace being able to recognize a drink's expected weight, taste, texture, color, and other characteristics, much less how to adjust them or communicate about them. **Labor might be expensive, but turnover & loss of experience costs money.**

(Note: this is not to suggest you taste drinks, please NEVER taste a drink before giving it out, nor after giving it out. But you can use your other senses along with questions like "describe...\[thing\]" to get the information you need.)

Yoooo I was a former partner I was in car sales before hand and wasn't too great at fast pace drink making (which is weird bc I'm a great line cook) anyways due to this they put me on *drive thru the entirety of every fucking shift I've ever had*

Amazing people fun atmosphere when you literally didn't want to drop dead which was most of the time

Been here 6 months, It’s so stressful still, and I have a good manger/training at that, but the customers and constant flow is so overwhelming. I’m not even a drive through but the day our store has to convert I think I’ll put in my two weeks. I lose my mind bit by bit every time I work .

You get used to it sadly. Lol