It varies, some places are exactly like this, others are very much not. But Starbucks *didn't* used to be this way, at least not so bad or so universally, not until the change in how we earn labor hours. It is not a coincidence that this is also the year Starbucks became the most profitable fast food company in the US, and the years Starbucks employees have begun unionizing in large numbers. They can and will work you to the absolute maximum of your capabilities as a human being, every single shift, if they can, because it saves them money.

Starbucks might be the worst in the industry when it comes to lean-staffing. I’d argue it’s one of the main reasons we’re seeing such a massive wave of unionization rn. We’re expected to do the work of 2-3 people minimum and that’s when we’re actually “fully staffed” (lol)

The understaffing makes me want to quit every day. No reason why each barista should have to be in 2-3 positions during peak.

For sure it’s literally always like this call outs and general understaffing and a revolving door of people is always an issue unless the pay and benefits are enough to keep people long term

honestly, i’ve had so so much worse at my previous fast food job. i am eternally grateful that my SM allows us to close the lobby, close mobiles and ubereats when we’re too understaffed to support those channels; my previous job would threaten to fire us if we closed anything no matter if it was a 1 person shift or 10, and it was a MUCH larger store than starbucks.

It can be very difficult to balance the work flow and it is tempting to “do more” to help out the other partners but it is very important to stay on task and focus on your routine. Communication between partners is essential. If one partner strays from their routine then there can be an imbalance in the workload between partners and this really makes it seem like too much. But also yes, if your store can actually only make orders for 50 customers in a half hour period, getting 60 customers in that half hour period is torture. Just try to stay focused on making the next half hour better

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you are not the only one. where I work we have drive and the in open. we open with only 3 people from 5:30 till 9:00

Yes