i hate to agree, but yes. i find there’s far less of a sense of urgency, lack of predictive thinking, general awareness of the big picture of the shift and team, etc… an over generalization but it can be tough to teach people and life skills to people who just, quite literally, are learning them irl too.

eta: i will say i’ve got like a 95% success rate with dunkin’ and chick fil a hires, i’ll keep them forever.

as someone who was in high school when i was hired, i can tell you my coworkers were not happy when i was hired. after a few weeks, they admitted to me that they were nervous i that i was in high school, but learned im a hard worker. they had a really bad experience with a high schooler who previously worked there, so i understood why they thought that.

im now in college and work with a bunch of other college students and it’s awful, to say the least. i don’t care how old you are, sometimes you just don’t work hard and it’s apparent in my store.

honestly, i think age plays a part in work ethic, but sometimes it’s just how those people are

Interesting…

I work in a store that is mostly young people. I’d say 16 of 25 are below 22 years old including myself. This isn’t really a problem for us, might just be the area or bad luck.

I’m 16 and I struggle with just knowing what to do if I’m on cs or not on bar because there is not always a set standard of things to do if that makes sense on bar you pull stickers and make drinks and you know what to do but on customer support or ovens or drive thru when it’s empty I don’t know what to do I usually make sure everything is stocked and do dishes and then I don’t know what else to do I usually will ask my shift to give me tasks but Maybe the 16 year olds are not lazy they just don’t know what to do I don’t mind doing the work and I try to get everything done that I need to sometimes I just don’t know what else to do sometimes

i think it really depends on the area. my sbux was in a middle/upper end of middle class area and the only other coworker i had that was around my age (highschool) at the time was someone who didn’t *need* the money per say so he had no real motivation to put in a lot of effort. he was kinda just working … for fun?

i’ve been working in customer service since i was 14 and was hired as i was turning 17. from just having the experience my coworkers all assumed i was in my early 20s (their ages) which was kind of strange since i have a very young looking face but i think it’s because for the first few months just clocked in, did what needed to be done, and clocked out lol. i didn’t really have time to let them get to know me esp juggling high school.

when i left sbux my store was hiring a lot of new ppl (high schoolers) because of the pandemic labour shortages and let’s just say i’m glad i left when i did lol… they’re new so i don’t blame them for getting things wrong but it’s like they don’t learn when they do. kinda frustrating but again i don’t get paid enough to care unless their slacking directly affects what i’m doing.

Meh. Not really. Then again I am very used to working with 16, 17 year olds. You can't really boss them around and you can't really be boring. You have to be more motivational and fun I would say and keep them engaged find a way to make it meaningful for them think a lot of it has to do with approach.

That is not to say I'm sure some 16/17--year-olds have an attitude problem but if somebody who's work with a lot of 16/17-year-olds I haven't noticed them at Starbucks or in my regular life to be lazy or unwilling to work hard. I find them to be frequently bored and need consistent engagement.

Typically, if I've had a problem with a minor in the workplace giving me an unnecessary attitude it's because an adult who is a shift supervisor told them to do that to me. And I would start with that shift supervisor and her lack of professionalism before I would start with the minor employee TBH.

I freaking love all five of my minors. They are all super hard working and super sweet. Honestly, they carry our night shift. Our most drama comes from our 20 to 25 year old baristas that work mids and nights. They hate being coached and consistently pick on our minors.

I admire the vibe, they're so fun and enthusiastic, but also I totally agree they're just not ideal coworkers.

It's honestly less and less tolerable as I get older to mitigate Young People Learning How To Appropriately Behave At Work And With Co-Workers. I honestly loathe having to explain that no customers in line doesn't mean it's selfie time (actual conversation I had to have far too many times) or that I'm their supervisor, not their childhood friend, I don't want to know and I don't care about their NSFW personal life. I either have to see them as peers, coworkers, and deal with the annoyance of a coworker acting like a self absorbed child or I have to acknowledge that they are literal children and the fact that they're working at all is a sign of our country's failures. Either way I'm annoyed.

Some people didn't face the adversity they needed to grow into adulthood properly. Most minors have not by the virtue of just not living long enough. The vast, vast, vast majority of minors I've seen at sbux end up quitting or being fired, usually for the most outlandish reasons compared to the others I know, but they're fun to have while they're here. Fun, exciting, generally unhelpful and very likely a headache, and getting their first taste of what working for a company actually means.

They also just flat out have too many restrictions on hours because they're minors. I think that's very good, they deserve protections, but from a coverage standpoint it gets frustrating when there's 5 people you could call to cover but 4 of them legally cannot work the hours you're trying to get covered.

I can see how this is true, many of the teens at my store are for lack of a better word, slow. They lack urgency in most things, and just feel like there’s no rush even when there’s a cafe packed and a drive through line around the block. I was hired on when I had just turned 16. When I was 16, I felt like I had to prove myself to the people who felt the teens weren’t the best workers. This really drove me (plus I had and still have great work ethic) and I very quickly became a go-to for bar. It’s disappointing to see people not much younger than me not having the same work ethic I had. It’s also concerning - like what are they going to do with a “real job” or a “big kid job” ya know?

I started working when I was 16 just turned 17 and honestly I think I’m doing really well. Then again I’ve always been a high achiever kind though so I try my best. I love working here because of the fact it’s high paced and keeps me busy. I can definitely see others being like that though, a lot of teens don’t have the best work ethic in the world and have the “it’s my first job mentality” which doesn’t work well in a sbux and sometimes people are just like that even if it’s annoying 😮‍💨

... I had to teach a new hire (16F) how to wash dishes -- Physically wash them. She knew in theory that soap, water and heat made them cleaner but never actually did it before. Fine, dandy. I can work with this! She was doing well after I got her into a groove. That is, until her mother came in and lost her mind. She was beyond angry her precious child was doing "housework". I couldn't help but wonder what she expected her child to do, working in the FOOD INDUSTRY. The girl quit later for unrelated reasons but I digress. That's just one of the many stories I can tell (we all have those, lol).
Anyways, just an opinion here but it's not just "lazy" or "lack of work ethic" but more than that. If they don't know how to do something or have a question, as long as they ask, I will help the best I can.

It's because they're kids. Honestly. Juniors and seniors who aren't putting 120% of their time into academia, sports, or other high-pressure high-practice extracurriculars are the ones who have time to have jobs, and they... tend not to be accustomed to throwing themselves into things wholeheartedly. They're usually not even putting their whole effort into school either, maybe because they soak up enough fast enough to pass tests and therefore don't really have to, or because they don't care that much about it for whatever reason. Coasting through is what they're accustomed to, and there's no real pressure when you're 16 to earn a certain amount of money or have a secure job.

Obviously there's exceptions to all of this. There are kids who have to contribute to rent and bills, there are kids who have a really strong work ethic, blah blah #notallkids. But my experience is that until you're through college, it's hit or miss whether you'll feel any real need to be indispensable at your job. I've had 17yos be the hardest-working people on staff, and I've had 21yos tell me that they think money is stupid and they misspell customers' names on purpose or call them by the wrong pronouns/honorifics because it's "not a big deal". So.. yeah.

I’m a different employee from my 16 year old self and my 28 year old self. I needed guidance to become the hard worker I am now. It can be frustrating to be corrected on how to work. You feel criticized and belittled. I try really hard to give positive feedback and cheer on baristas when they succeed. I’m really careful about my approach. I have noticed younger employees can take more encouragement to get to work but they are also use to low traffic night shifts. I try really hard to be understanding when dealing with younger baristas. In the end I really just want them to grow because I’ve been in that spot. I was so clueless when I was young. Also I applaud any teenage barista. Starbucks is tough even for a seasoned employee like myself.

My store doesn't have this actually. It's usually the young adult that are 21 - 26 yrs old that act like that.

And frankly, the older adults like 38 - 47 make things tense with the young adults.

It's probably a generational and regional area?

in my experience it's a coin flip. some of my hardest working baristas were minors and some of my most troublesome baristas have been minors, but the proportion of good to bad, in my experience, hasn't swayed too hard in either direction for me to put it on the age group

thinking on it a little more now, it might have to do with whether or not theyre being forced to be there by a parent or if they want to work. that being said i know plenty of not minors who need the money and will be on their phone for 80% of their shift

Coaching 16 and 17 year old is different than coaching older partners, and from what I’ve seen, most of the time the coaching that’s being given to them is condescending or not coming from a place of wanting to teach. This is likely their first job, so just need a bit more structure to help them develop good work habits. They sometimes require a bit more patience and understanding, but I’ve found it to be rewarding when they move on to their dream jobs or go off the college (:

I'm literally 17 but graduated high school early, so I work full-time. More tenured baristas tend to scoff at any of my efforts to socialize with them and gossip about how it's not fair that I get more hours but I am a "child" (among other things). I may be 17, but at least I'm always on time and can be relied on :)

seems a little off to me because i won Partner Of The Quarter at 17

hey! im a minor and a barista. i can assure u i am not lazy and neither are most of the other minors at my store. the complaint shifts have with us at my store is remembering to give us a lunch on time.

quite frankly, most minors who have a job and are still in school dont want to be there and for good reason

I hate to agree, but yes. I admit that I think I would have had a lot of difficulty working this type of job at 16, so props to the people that do it. It's the attitude I can't get past. I've often wondered if this is a generational thing. As a millennial, I didn't think I'd be viewing the generation under me this way so soon. The other day, I had a green bean sit on the counter, which is never ok but even less ok while we are open.

I agree, I’ve talked to a lot of the younger baristas and they all say “this is just extra spending money” so I feel like they aren’t motivated to work hard due to not having a responsibility. It’s not all younger baristas but it is most of them that have no work ethic unfortunately…

Our store has had a mixed bag. We've had some teens who just could not get with it, after Months, and we have a few that have ended up being really strong and have been there for going on a year now.

I work at another job where the boss almost exclusively hires high schoolers, and either they aren't being vetted well anymore or there's been some dramatic change to the age group over the last 4 years but those kids are almost useless. Never want to work, even their given availability, can't follow simple instructions and cut corners at every opportunity. This happened at starbs with the "failed" green beans, too. I have a feeling it's a culture shift here in the US, maybe abroad, too. We could blame TikTok or social media, or the pandemic, but it is exhausting trying to force these kids to do the bare minimum to keep their job.😓 And they're given too many chances imo, that they'll never learn.

I'm a 16 year old barista who has had to work with other teen who don't respect the workplace or realize that they aren't getting paid to sit around on their phones.

There was this one time I had an 18 year old transfer from another location and all they did was stand around on their phone.... I legit had to tell them to do things even though they have worked for Starbucks longer then I have. It don't think it was a issue of them being at a different store bc they had no initiative, and even when I gave them tasks to get done they would go on their phone instead.

But also I noticed that at first as a green bean I got treated like a child.. and ofc I am technically a child but i hate it when people underestimate me and i also hate that it was expected for me as a teen to be an inefficient worker... that shouldn't be a stereotype but unfortunately it is.

Since ive been at the same location for 6 months everyone knows that i'm a hard worker but now its the customers that undermine me because i'm a teen... ive had people be condescending towards me because im young like this one time i had an older lady tell me "oh its okay Honey, you don't know any better" because I made a tiny mistake and had to refund her... its so frustrating!

My experience is that most baristas over 30 that have 2+years of experience think they’re 110% right all the time, to the point where if I clarify something with them they’re mad because they already knew it. Ex: me: that drink has whip on it (nondairy milk and I didn’t specify) them: I know, I can hear too

Everytime I think about how someone isn't working hard or fast enough I remember that neither of us get paid enough to do this job. It's an internal struggle I have in my mind all the time. The only time it really bothers me is when I have to work harder to pick up slack.

I’ve met two baristas that are under 18 and in high school, and they’re both some of the best baristas I’ve had. One of them is now 20 and was immediately promoted to SSV when she turned 18 because of her work ethic, and the other is one of the best drive bar (a position at my store where someone does drive thru and bar at the same time due to understaffing) baristas Ive ever worked with.

Most of them don’t have their own bills and such so they have no drive to work unless they are saving for something. Not too mention Starbucks lowkey isn’t a great starter job at least not at the store I work at. Most first time workers quit due to how busy we are

Unfortunately most of the time that is the case, they lack work ethic but at the same time I’m sure it’s because they have a lot going on too work and school not being a full adult yet. I’ve met a few who were under 18 and had the same work drive as any other partner on the floor and they are awesome but it’s rare and it’s because they have bills to help pay and help family.

i’ve worked in 2 stores in about 2 years and once at a 3rd just to help, i’ve totally seen this in all the teens at my other jobs but every teen i’ve worked with at starbs definitely work super hard. a 17yr old i work w now at a different job is so damn lazy and has the worst fucking attitude. so yeah i think it is just the age but also depends

i agree but also i have like 1 or 2 baristas that are minors that work super hard and get a lot of shit

I've always said this, but I've also been lucky enough to train a 16 year old partner who was very mature for her age. But aside from that experience, most of them could care less from what I've seen 😖

Honestly I have the same amount of issues with minors as I do with adults. Some work really hard, and some dont give a fuck. Some of the hardest workers have been high schoolers in my experience. It honestly just depends on the person, and in my experience has nothing to do with age.

the only thing i hate is when the little hs girly baristas come in and are over confident and arrogant and make EVERYONE feel insecure about their every move. yanno the ones who only work there cuz they wanna make drinks on tiktok n be famous 🥴 come back to me when ur old enough to buy ur own alcohol sweetie pie gtfo

I agree as well. We have many high schoolers who just don’t have the best work ethic at all. They call out on their one shift for the week and screw the people over that day, they end up not listening when asked to do a task or just having to constantly remind them what to do or how to do it….
They are lovely people just don’t have good work ethic yet

I’ve noticed when coaching any minor the response is like they are talking back to a parent in my experience and I’m like don’t talk to me like I’m not your mom.

i think its partially to do with the fact that its a first job for many of them, so they don’t know what’s expected/they don’t even wanna be here but their parents made them lol. all of my teen coworkers that have had jobs before have pretty good work ethic, while the ones that haven’t have a bit more attitude when asked to do things. i also have a few older coworkers that are pretty lazy so i guess some people never grow out of it:’)

I’m 16 and I’d say I’m pretty good although I definitely can’t say the same about my some out here at my store 😐

I’m about to turn 18 and there’s one other high schooler who just turned 18. He got hired like a month or two after me and I’m about 5 months in, this coworker is so lazy. I like to think I work hard and when I ask my coworkers on what to improve on they never really have anything to say but this other kid is ridiculous. Me and my trainer who also trained him always talk about his work ethic and my trainer has straight up said he’s the worst person he’s even trained. This kid is always on his phone, asks to get his break 10 minutes in to his shift, wants to leave early and when they ask him to stay like an hour later and he does he always with out fail calls out the next day. We all know he just working here for school and is gonna quit in may but there’s been no real things he can be reprimanded for so they can’t exactly fire him but it’s a frustrating situation. So even as a minor im not offended because I agree, it’s not even being mean it’s just the truth that a majority of minors who work are just lazy.

I haven’t noticed any attitude issues. But work ethic, yes. Also feel like they treat work like school (for example, they think they can just not show up for their shifts, or call out without coverage and there’s no consequences).

Another reason is that all the minors (who, 99% of them don’t have bills) getting scheduled means that the grown adults working are getting scheduled less hours, and we’re already struggling to pay bills.

I’m the night supervisor and all I have is kids that are 18-20 and it’s…tough. I love them all and they are fun but to work with them is just hard they don’t take direction well, they let customers affect their attitudes, and they have no problem calling out if they don’t “feel” like working. I just had to have a fun conversation with my SM about why nights customer connection score was terrible and I had to remind her that she puts me to work with kids and unfortunately this generation is a whole different breed. They have no filter and don’t care again don’t get me wrong I love and appreciate my partners but to them this job is not serious. They are young and don’t understand how to fake it to you make it. I try to remind them that they are being paid so who cares but they only listen with their emotions.

I have a coworker who said he's "14" even though the age requirement to even work at Starbucks is 16..how he got hired in the first place? Idk..

Probably because they've never had the NEED to work hard driven into them, hence why they are the way they are. Once they start growing up and living on their own, they learn real quick.

Yeah I love a lot of my high schoolers I won’t lie. They’re fun sometimes. But training them can be a nightmare and often times they do not like to actually work. And unfortunately, when you have a job, you have to actually do work.

I'm 17 and pretty much every close is run by high schoolers. Our store would fall apart if it weren't for us. My favorite people to work with are the high schoolers because they are the only ones who actually do stuff.

I thought it was me...now that I see it's not just me I feel a little better

I definitely agree. When I was at my first store, I was in college and worked with a good amount of high schoolers while on the closing shift. They were fantastic, hard working, and funny. They always had pep in their step. It was also a DT store in a part of the country where Dunks is favored over the Bux, so there weren't too many other stores to take our share of customers. When I transferred, all the high schoolers couldn't care less. It was like there were no critical thinking skills. It was so frustrating because when they just stand there and do nothing, everyone else has to work twice as hard.

Best advice I got for training, it works especially well on young beans: don't tell them the answer to any question once you explain the concept once or twice. Ask, "what do you think?" in a non-snarky way. If they get it right, that's great, they probably just asked because they weren't confident. If they get it wrong, it is a coaching opportunity and they are more likely to remember the next time around.

I've worked with high schoolers in a number of jobs, it's not unique to Starbucks. Some kids are great! But in general, it's the whole learning the value of a dollar thing. People don't realize how much energy customer service jobs take until they do it themselves, and a lot of people are shocked by how small their first paychecks are. My theory the kids who have to learn the hard way are the ones who become better people because they learned these lessons. The ones who never get a customer service job are the ones who turn into horrible entitled customers because they continue believing our jobs are easy.

I honestly think it’s the age. It’s probably their first or at least one of their first jobs. It’s brand new to them, they’re likely still immature, who knows what kind of training they may or may not have had before. When I was 16 at Captain Ds I was still immature but happened to be hard working and well rounded probably from being in band in school. I ended up being promoted up to assistant manager before I left. Just be gracious and willing to help and they’ll get the hang of things eventually. You don’t wanna miss out on a great worker by being impatient and not believing in them.

it's a hit or miss with them for sure. imo i don't think starbucks is a great first job for 16/17 yr olds tho. i started at dunkin and it def helped having the prior experience to get a general idea of what's expected of me

I would not trade my teenagers in for anything!! Those kids bust their butt everyday they are there. Are there a couple of problem children...yes but there are also a couple of problem adults. It's really the person not the age.....and this is coming from someone who is rounding 50 and been working since I was 15!!

I haven’t experienced that at all: I have noticed that the younger baristas generally don’t ask for help when they are clearly drowning. Whereas I’m YELLING down the bar, “I NEED SUPPORT ON BAR PLEASE!!!” It takes time to know the job though and when and how to ask for help and they don’t want to be a burden. The only time I really “coach” my coworkers is to tell them to always always always ask for help and know we have their back just like they have mine.

I mean some people just take it more seriously than others. I goofed off a lot at my first job but that was when I was literally 14 (we love Florida laws lmao). I’ve been working shitty retail and kitchen jobs for years now since then so I’d say that the attitude just comes with getting used to working unfortunately. Look on the bright side at least Starbucks doesn’t hire at 14 to my knowledge haha they could be much worse

They don’t care cause they don’t have rent or bills to pay.

Up until a a few weeks ago I was the only person above 20 working night crew. Some of the kids are fine and behave most of the time. But most don't. Even my young ssvs don't do shit to stop it because they are either in on the bullshit or they are scared of confrontation it seems. Don't get me wrong I'm not some old lady who can't have any fun and I join in when it's appropriate but it's a shit show sometimes and I'm not surprised my store manager came in to make a huge scene and yell at the night crew once buttttt my sm is also to blame tell me why they would hire a teen couple?? I'm at my wits end about it tbh. I think they hire all these teens on purpose cause 99 percent of them don't need the benefits/money. And they don't take advantage of most of the benefits. It's cheaper.

i work in a big city with mostly 22+ and my issue isn’t with the high schoolers maybe it’s the area but i’m used to seeing closers ( minors and YA) suffer through terrible transitions done by ppl who frankly act like they have never heard of work ethic ever. But i also worked in a different area where the hs kids were burdens i say its def area

Yeah. Speaking as a freshly 18 year old who isn’t like that, even I can’t stand working w ppl my age and understand it when people feel that way about me even tho I put my soul into my role.

It’s a situational thing more than age, but age definitely plays a huge role. 17 year old who’s never had any real responsibility who was simply told to get a job vs 16 year old knowing theyre about to get kicked out for being gay, they’ll have extremely different priorities and values.

At my store it’s the teens who take shifts and step up to tasks usually. Our adult groups is constantly arguing and feuding as if they were the ones in high school.

So yeah I think it’s mostly subjective to individual work ethics and environments you know? You just happened to get a shitty bunch.

Most of the workers at my store are on the younger side (16-25) and I might be bias since I am the youngest at my store. But I have noticed that most of the time it is the younger baristas who are willing to do anything for their fellow partners. From helping out CS with tasks to coverage people shifts almost daily. But the “attitude” is still there from time to time but it’s nothing compared to the older partners when you correct them on a simple mistake. It’s probably different at every store though!

i have noticed this too, i only ever get attitude from the below 18 baristas. it’s disappointing and it sucks because it makes shifts with them difficult and tense

Coming from a 17 year old, I do give attitude back but it’s in a sarcastic loving form, like my ssv will ask me to do the oven, and I’ll say “no why would I do that” as I’m turning the oven off to clean it. But never would I actually say no to a higher up unless it’s just unethical. But at this point my ssv’s don’t tell me to do anything and trust me to close properly, and needless to say I do. But I see others in my age group and maybe a little older standing around and talking during peak just because they’re cs, and this one guy does it so much I tell him to do his job when he’s talking because I’ve just grown sick of it. I understand coffee isn’t that important and we deserve more than what we get, but we won’t get anywhere if a couple of us are standing around talking the entire time. At the end of the day as long as I go home and get off on time I’m happy, and when others have no sense of urgency as op said it’s really hard to get off on time because you’re stuck doing someone else’s job

I have a mix, I have those minors who are super hard workers, a little chatty and goof off a bit but when myself or other SSVs are like hey we can have fun but we gotta work too, they kick it in to gear. Then I have the others who just don’t have that sense of urgency and even with clear direction either don’t seem to understand or don’t care. It really depends on the person

I'm fairly certain people have been complaining about this since before Starbucks even existed. You're not wrong, but there's a good chance we were like that when we were younger, as well.

My under 18's are super solid, great closers. Its kind of annoying one of them has to take a week off for a school play, but I'll make it work for her. Im trying to see if the whole team can go support her. The other one lets me know when she has half or whole days off and works all the hours I can give her, "prom is expensive"

However I have a 25 year old who is a nightmare.

It’s just a age thing. I was def lazy and didn’t care at 16, now at 24 I’m going above and beyond at this job lmao

The ones in my store are great. I like them better than some of the older crowd and I'm 30 lol. I guess it just depends who you hire.

I don’t find that at all. I think I may be the oldest at my store. I’m late thirties. I vibe with the majority of the 16/17yos. They’re great and make the job enjoyable. It’s the mid twenties baristas who take the job way too seriously that kill me. It’s coffee. At the end of the day - it’s coffee. I do my job and go about my life.

it really depends on the people and the area. my store has a few 16-18 year olds and theyre all super great, they have grrat attitudes and put in their all but we've had a few in the last that just had terribel attitudes and didnt want to work, just wanted to say they worked at starbucks.

i think that’s just an issue in your area. all my minor baristas are awesome. sure they might not be as reliable as you want them to, but they’re high schoolers and have lives. they try really hard.

as a 17 year old…i see where you’re coming from but you have to make sure to not let that make predispositions about minors working at your store. i started when i was 16, it was my first job and i’ll be the first to admit that i was not great at it. it’s all about the learning curve, but the bottom line is that i was willing and eager to learn and improve. it took quite a few months but i am now a barista trainer and one of the most experienced baristas at my store. it’s totally understandable to expect that from minors more than others, but it does really suck to be a minor and have people expect you to not be a good worker just because of the [m] next to your name. i’ve heard people at other stores say “why would [sm] ever bring a minor to work at our store?” as a borrowed partner and let me tell you it’s not the first thing you’d like to hear when going to a new store.

The minors at my stores are actually really cool and nice to work with.

In my area it's usually 18/19 year olds (not all) that we have this issue with. They hate being coached and they do the bare minimum for the position they're placed in and still complain about it.

no wonder why every minor hates their job

no wonder why every minor hates their job