Our half hours during normal parts of the year are like 60-70, during the Holiday season they go well above 90-110. It’s like that at every location I’ve ever worked at, and every location my friends (both local and long distance) have worked. Saying the Christmas bevvies don’t bring in a TON of extra traffic is just not correct

I’m not saying the labor model is correct. I think it’s a trash labor model and sorely needs to be modernized. Every store I’ve ever worked for though, it is the case that the sales decline after thanksgiving - not a quick drop, its a slow decline. It is different for shopping center Starbucks because they’re usually just nuts and don’t have a normal morning peak.

so frustrating omg😭

It gives them a bigger selection pool to call people in from. If you only have 2 people you can call you’re less likely to get a yes than if you have 5. In my experience very few baristas often pick up shifts at other stores, though it does happen. It definitely helps the managers in the short term to do this (right up until the people who need hours quit). They’re also pressured to do it because Starbucks doesn’t look very kindly upon shutting down the lobby or turning off mobiles if enough people call out.

None of this is really the store manager’s fault either. If they’re only allotted minimal labor hours to begin with then people calling out is going to hurt the store and tire out everyone who came in, leading to more call outs. It’s a vicious cycle.

But I have worked at stores where the store managers have tried not to hire more people to deal with call outs. It really didn’t work out. Bad idea.