Starbucks is clamping down on its hybrid work policy to join other companies across corporate America in a push to improve their in-person culture.
The Seattle-based coffee giant issued a warning to employees earlier this week that, starting January, those who don't commute at least three days per week will risk possible termination, according to a company-issued memo earlier reported by Bloomberg News. The company isn't asking corporate workers to come in more frequently, but will be rolling out an "accountability process" to make sure everyone is complying with the existing policy.
And if they don't, consequences could be "up to, and including, separation," the memo said.
“We are continuing to support our leaders as they hold their teams accountable to our existing hybrid work policy,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement to CoStar News.
The policy applies to about 3,500 corporate Starbucks employees, a small fraction of the company's roughly 380,000-person global workforce, much of which is based in retail outposts.
Brian Niccol, the company's new CEO, has a hybrid work arrangement that allows him to commute by corporate jet from his home in Southern California to Starbucks' Seattle hub. That policy has drawn the ire of some employees, according to online reports, prompting the company to clarify that Niccol would either meet or exceed the number of days Starbucks requires corporate workers to be in an office.
Escalated enforcement
Starbucks' escalated enforcement is the latest in a slew of policies implemented by companies rolling out stricter in-office schedules. UPS, Disney, Amazon, Dell, Bank of America, Meta and others have recently ramped up efforts to get workers back to physical office space, deploying a mix of strategies that include attendance-tracking apps, asking employees to relocate, and threats to link in-person time with annual performance reviews.
Amazon recently made headlines with its decision to dump remote working arrangements for all of its employees, a move CEO Andy Jassy said was critical to "strengthening our culture and the effectiveness of our teams."
The widespread reversal of pandemic-era work arrangements has been welcome news for a real estate industry scrambling against a tide of record vacancies and tenant move-outs.
The national office vacancy rate has been stuck at about 14% for the past year, according to CoStar data, and the increasing percentage of companies requiring employees to be in the office more frequently could be the push necessary to move the needle. About a third of all companies in the United States required workers to be in the office five days a week in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 31% in the second quarter, according to flexible work tracker Flex Index.
Even so, the market is still contending with lingering pandemic-related challenges — such as tenants requiring less space — that have remained stubborn despite escalated in-person policies.
The amount of space office tenants occupy across the country has largely remained flat since the beginning of the year, according to CoStar data.