AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson
Some Starbucks baristas aren’t happy about the chain’s new dress code — or the direction of the company’s turnaround plans so far.
Three Starbucks store employees whom Business Insider spoke with said that the dress code, which takes effect May 12, will likely result in out-of-pocket costs if they want to have enough work clothes to get through the week without having to do extra laundry.
They also said they feel Starbucks is focusing too much on what they wear and whether they should honor customer requests for free water, and not enough on core operational issues, such as long wait times at some stores.
Starting May 12, Starbucks store employees, whom the company calls “partners,” will have to wear solid-black shirts and bottoms that are either black, blue denim, or khaki.
The goal, according to Starbucks, is to highlight the green aprons that store partners wear.
“How is the color of our shirts going to get drinks out faster?” one employee at a store in North Carolina told BI. The employee asked not to be named in this story, but BI has verified their identity and employment with Starbucks.
The reactions to the dress code and Starbucks’ broader turnaround effort come seven months after Brian Niccol became the chain’s CEO. Under Niccol, Starbucks has made several changes to its stores so far, from cutting the number of menu items to requiring that patrons make a purchase or accompany someone who has to hang out in the café.
Neha Cremin, a barista at a Starbucks near Oklahoma City’s famous “gayborhood,” said that she worried the new dress code would prevent employees from wearing many pride- or LGBTQ+-shirts, including some that Starbucks has produced in the past, because they are not solid black.
Meanwhile, long wait times for customers and understaffing are unresolved issues at her store, she told BI.
“I don’t see anything about the fact that workers are running around with two or three people running a busy, full café,” she said.
Starbucks, which is giving employees two free shirts as part of the change, said it will also offer a variety of black shirts to choose from, including ones promoting employee groups for minorities.
“We understand the importance of our partners being their authentic selves, and we want them to feel comfortable expressing that,” a spokesperson said.
The chain also continues to consider operational changes to its stores, the spokesperson added.
“We’re continuing to test and learn to ensure we make the right investments in staffing and deployment, processes and algorithm technology to improve the partner and customer experience,” the spokesperson told BI.
Jasmine Leli, a barista at a Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, told BI that many Starbucks employees work more than two shifts a week and don’t have the time or money to do laundry multiple times a week.
Leli, who is also a bargaining delegate for Starbucks Workers United, the union representing Starbucks employees, said she expects many employees will choose to spend out-of-pocket on additional clothing that matches the dress code.
“You could spill milk on your shirt,” said Leli. “And we’re expected to wash our clothes after every shift? That’s not sustainable.”
On a Reddit page for Starbucks store partners, some posters said that they plan to overhaul their work outfits. They also said that they were deciding whether to throw away Starbucks shirts that aren’t solid black.
“It’s not like I would ever want to wear them outside of work, so I guess I just wasted my money on them since they’re essentially useless to me now?” a comment on one thread reads.
The Starbucks spokesperson pointed to some testimonies from store employees who said that they welcomed the dress code change.
“We will spend less time focused on what we are wearing and more time on our craft,” Starbucks quoted one store manager in Minnesota as saying about the new dress code.
The new dress code is the latest change under Niccol as he looks to make Starbucks cafés “inviting places to linger” with more connection between customers and baristas.
In February, the CEO said that Starbucks might change elements of Starbucks’ digital ordering process, such as asking customers to select a specific pickup time.
So far, many of the changes to Starbucks have focused on other aspects of its stores.
Cremin, the barista in Oklahoma City, said that many of the patrons at her store strike up conversations with store workers about clothing and style because of what they’re wearing.
“It’s taking away from the human connections that make Starbucks a pleasant place to go,” she said of the new dress code.
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