Starbucks CEO urges return to office, but avoids restrictions: “We are all adults here”

In his first address to employees since taking the highest job this month, Niccol praised the “power of bringing everyone together” but said he wouldn’t dictate what days or times that they had to report back to the corporate’s Seattle headquarters, based on a transcript of his Sept. 10 address obtained by Bloomberg News.

Niccol’s own working arrangement, which allowed him to live and travel in California 1,000 miles to Seattle on the corporate’s corporate jet, initially sparked strong reactions from some employees and out of doors critics who said he was receiving special treatment while the remainder of the corporate needed to be within the office. three days per weekOther employees said they didn’t care where the CEO was based so long as he didn’t disrupt everyone else’s distant or hybrid work arrangements.

Starbucks said Niccol will spend most of his time within the office and visiting the chain’s stores worldwide. A Starbucks spokesperson confirmed there had been no changes to the corporate’s three-day policy.

“This is not a game of chasing. This is a game of winning,” said Niccol, who was hired to show around the corporate, which is affected by declining sales. “It’s important to me that everyone here succeeds, and if success requires us to be together more often, then let’s be together more often.”

At the forum, he listed amenities reminiscent of an on-site gym, a daycare center and a Starbucks branch as elements to encourage employees to go to the office. The company also offers subsidized public transport, free charging of electrical vehicles, bike lockers and shuttles to nearby public transport.

Holding out a carrot to lure people back to the office is in contrast to the stick wielded this week by Seattle-based corporate giant Amazon.com Inc., which instructed its employees to return In the office five days per week from January.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a note to employees that Amazon has made it harder to get work done and that working from home is a component of the issue. To underscore that time, he said the corporate would also reinstate desk assignments.

The decision sparked frustration amongst some employees, who said the choice was not supported by data showing that folks were productive outside of the office.

Research findings on the impact of telecommuting on productivity vary widely and infrequently rely upon the sort of work being studied. According to Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who has analyzed telecommuting for greater than a decade, the impact can be “highly dependent” on how well it’s managed.

At Starbucks, some employees have raised concerns about whether Niccol would increase in-office work requirements or change telecommuting policies for workers who already telecommute. In his previous job as CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Niccol brought The staff return 4 days per week.

According to the minutes, Niccol did in a roundabout way address the matter through the internal forum and in addition shunned issuing latest mandates.

“My view is that we should spend as much time together as possible. You need to figure out where you need to be to do your job and then do it,” he said. “We’re all adults here.”