Just get laid off? How do you see your life after Starbucks?

Enjoy the rest of the summer (while living on "savings") and then start job-hunting? Or update the resume first thing in the morning and comb the classifieds? Maybe do some "healing" with a voodoo doll? How do you see your post-Starbucks life?

Comments

[sneaky]

Good question. Well, the layoff came yesterday morning. Then my store managers took me out for a great lunch and some heartful chatter. That boosted my spirits. I will miss their tenacity, flexibility, loyalty, energy and most of all generosity of spirit.

But as soon as that was over it was back home to wallow in a house sprinkled with a tad too much green and too many sirens staring at me (something the other half never really liked anyway). So, up and at 'em today and I divested myself of all the clutter keeping only that small amount of what is truly sentimental - oh and possibly future career enhancing.

I haven't been here more than a smattering of years. I came with a war chest of experience and have added to that immensely. So, it's an exciting new adventure ahead after just a few days of deprogramming (after all I drank a LOT of the cool-aid).

As someone I mistakenly believed to be honestly great has said a lot lately . . .Onward!!!

[JA]

Open your eyes to higher pay - SBUX blinds you with their generously wealth-generating stock option package(oh sure), and pays you at the very low end of average wages for the industry, and then gives you less than CPI index wage increases to keep you chipper. The funny thing about working for the best place to work (please enter in your own definition of "best" as it may vary +-60% depending who they poll in their represenetative sample in the company), that the directors who pull down their 35% bonus which is paid out in good and bad times, continue to drain the stockholders pockets regardless of profitability. Director level headcount as a ratio to managers and below needs to come down to instill any shareholder confidence. Egos need to be lowered and someone needs to take the strategy vision blunder on the chin or at least be accountable for their ivy league recommendations

[myra]

Your managers were "allowed" to take you out? Thats so great as our dictator of an RD doesn't even want mgrs talking to each other. Thankfully, we dont all follow that rule because I (an SM) wasn't even given a courtesy call that my DM was let go which would have caused major confusion tomarrow if a fellow mgr hadn't called me.

[cornfrost]

I am going to spend a lot of time reading Starbucks Gossip and wondering whether the timing of the redesign was a coincidence.

PS: Jim, you are doing a great, great service, even though I do miss the coffee-stain circle on the old logo.

[rich]

I got paroled from the SSC today. I already have a few irons in the fire, so I will enjoy the severants and take some long afternoon bike rides, as well as finish up the honey-do list before my next gig. Since howards memo still mentions possible lay-off in the future, I feel better that I have first dibs on the job market. From what my co-workers said on my way out, there may not be too many left in a few months to lay-off. I wish them well. Now, where is that new Tully's?

[Gigi]

I own a small bakery/cafe and would love to find out if there are any baristas in my area who were impacted by the layoffs. Good baristas are hard to find and I'm desperately in need of one (or two). Are there any resources for matching "newly independent" baristas with employers?

[TORONTOWYLD]

Times like these make me glad I've stayed a barista laying low. I was going to ramble more, but the first sentence really says it all.

[Torontodude]

More restaurant bad news:

Ten thousand employees lost their jobs today when Bennigan's closed all 160 corporate owned stores after filing for bankruptcy.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/bennigans.restaurant.shutdown.2.782428.html

[ASM]

I am sad to say that the man who helped me become an ASM was let go today. I have been a partner for four years now and I love(d) this company, however, I am no longer happy to go to work anymore for fear that no matter how hard I work or my fellow partners, we will be laid off at some point in time because they think we are better off without an ASM or 10 or so baristas.

[Decaf for EVERYONE!]

this is a company that for years I have had tremendous faith in, and saw great potential is moving up above store level.
now, I see that is the safest place to be.
however, for a company whose mastermind preaches his "pour your heart into it" routine - how can we when we know now how easily and unexpectedly they will stomp on it?

[Missing LB]

I have to echo what is being said about tenure and dedication and all of the partners who were let go today who truly "poured their hearts into it." The Philly area lost a truly amazing RDO--someone with unmatched dedication and compassion for partners, who truly embodied all that was great about this company for 8 years.

And now it's just another company. "It's not about the coffee"...and it's surely not about the partners...it's about the bottom line and stock price.

And I for one will never give this company my all ever again.

What will it get me in a few years?

[gotnerves]

We keep seeing posts about baristas being laid off but they can hop on down to the next fast food place and not notice a difference. But having that stigma of a "redundant" employee at the corporate level kills your resume.

If you were a good barista, believe me that DMs fought tooth and nail to keep you with the company, those let go would have found another path anyway in a few months (90% turnover being as it is.) Partners in the building today were intelligent, hard working people who walked into work with no idea that their department couldn't keep them on the payroll any longer. The economy is shot; where will they go?

[Limey]

Karate guy - Karate guy!!!!!!

[Limey]

"Ten thousand employees lost their jobs today when Bennigan's closed all 160 corporate owned stores after filing for bankruptcy." Dude, I didn't even know Bennigans still operated those dumps, guess they looked closed, far as I could tell? I think I saw Karate Guy walking into one the other day...? That dude is down on his luck after his bad break...

[BaristaBeGone]

I think it's time to file that sexual harrassment lawsuit that I've been putting off. My DM certainly can't make my life hard now!!!

[BBeyes]

It's unfortunate what's going on in our company today. As a long time employee I have seen a lot of people come and go. But nothing like this. I understand that the economy is at it's lowest and times are hard, but, cutting down the number of employees in our stores is not the right thing to do. Especially since the job market out there is scarce and most of our employees are providers to their families. I wish them all the greatest of luck and hope that they find a company as great as this one was.

[AnotherASM]

just curious...any other asm's feel like they are in a dead end job?

[Andy]

Which is higher up, an RDO or an RVP?

My store manager told me that Rick Marshall, who heads 400 stores in Maryland, was let go.

I'm a Shift Supervisor and I'm not upset about the layoffs because all of the work happens at the store level. If the company develops better leaders at the store level, it will no longer need all of those redundant layers of management.

[nottaprofitcenter]

All of the work happens at the store level, Andy? Are you picking and roasting your own beans, printing your own paycheck and your vendors' checks too, on top of barista duties? You must be exhausted!

[notsogreenbean]

I recently found this website and have been lurking since, after today events all I can say is WOW! I'm coming up on my 5 yr anniversary with this company and wondering if I'm gonna make it to that point in October. It makes me sad to hear this news. Granted I'm not gonna lie, some of the people that got walkin papers today righfully so deserved them. They did not follow our Core Values or Guiding Principles that they preached so much about. On the other side of the coin there are people in my area that will be a great loss and missed very much so. I find it hard after today to go into my store tomorrow for work and work to uphold what is the backbone of the company that I have chosen to work for. Our Mission Statement, Guiding Principles, and Core Values; when our "leader" Mr. Schultz cannot himself seem to recognize these words and work to uphold them himself. Or at least in my opinion that is how it seems. I may be wrong I may be right, but its my opinion and I am entitled to it.

I am sad that this company that was so great to me when I started as a part-time barista, just working at the bux as a second job for some extra cash, now an ASM working towards SM has completely defied what they stand for. Again my opinion. I was so excited when I heard that Howie was back. I thought to myself, this company is going to go back to the company I fell in love with almost 5 yrs ago. Now I dread going to work. Not knowing if my DM is gonna be in my store asking for my keys and handing me an envelope. Wondering if I'm gonna get a call from PR cause a partner complained about me giving them a 10 3 hrs into a 4 hr shift cause it was busy, short staffed and trying to catch up from the shift before me and I couldn't walk on water that day for them. A year ago I visioned myself retiring from the bux. Currently I have no vision of retirement.

It petrifies me that Jim Alling is gone, and I can say that I would seriously consider following him wherever his next venture takes him.

I'm so tired of getting text messages from my SM or fellow ASM, we have a new DM again, or so and so is gone and so on. Next week I get to meet a new DM, my 4th in the past year. Tell me where's the stability in that? District re-alignment here we come again, for the 2nd time in a year. Seriously, this year has been a true test of some of the core competencies for our positions. Dealing with Ambiguity the biggest. And let me tell you if I am a Phoenix and I rise from the ashes and do indeed find myself someday and somehow retiring with this company what a story I will have to tell. Maybe I'll write a memoir; "The tales of a Starbucks Barista: Stories from behind the counter."

So in ending my random rant, I want to say to all partners that are no longer with us that are undeserving of departure. I am truly sorry, it was partners like you that steered me aways from my cush office job almost 5 yrs ago to jump in the trenches with you all. I know many of you are living the backbone of Starbucks and I only wish you the best and hope that you take the Starbucks experience with you into your next journey. You all helped make the company a great place that it once was. I hope I make it through this, so at the end of the day I can have pride in success.

[pissed]

saw dis dude, he was pissed...ran out of SSC threw over chairs & broke a big pot. News man with cams stood stunned...so waz i...stock rose 5%..some happy dumassed white boyz are da new leaderz

[Cali ASM]

just curious...any other asm's feel like they are in a dead end job?

Posted by: AnotherASM | July 29, 2008 at 09:09 PM

Yes!

[Starbuck Drone]

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080801/how-hard-could-it-be-good-system-bad-system.html?partner=fogcreek

Great Article.

[Starbuck Drone]

http://tinyurl.com/5tuwqx

[drive]

Drone, Thanks for posting that. The INC. story is terrific.
I am not familiar with any store on 58th and 8th but will be sure to go past there. It's hard to believe that Joel will find improvement at the 60th and Broadway store. That store is pathetic and has been in serious decline since F.V. was promoted out of there. The management and staff are hopeless. So the Starbucks customer in that neck of the city gets a choice between being yelled at or being ignored.

[eleanor abernathy]

BByes...

Most of our employees at the store level are providers for their families?? What? Are you being a little dramatic? In 8 years working in the stores, and the 100s of people I worked with, I can only think of 2 that were providers for their families. Even in my dept. of 18 at the SSC, there are only a few providers.

No company owes anybody anything.

[been let go]

Here I sit in my home office looking around at all the Starbucks crap I have collected for many years...The spirit of starbucks award, numerous bravo awards, mug awards, manager of the quarter award, my picture of pike place and of Howard and I (the list is endless). I look at all the piles and piles of papers that say things like; Respect and dignity, legendary service, we are in the people business serving coffee, be involved, be genuine, etc.Now as I place them all in one box to put in the back of the closet, I say to Howard - Thank you for the time of my life, everything happens for a reason, and I am so glad I have been let go. I will survive. My only regret is that I truly believed in Howard. Howard, do you yourself really believe what you are saying? - "Onward"

[Darleen]

Been let go,
I am doing the same exact thing. Packing up my boxes of memories. When I finally get through the grieving process I believe I will be a better person for having worked at starbucks. But right now I only feel disapointment.

[PhillyBarista]

I agree with you Missing LB. She was an amazing person! I'd known her for about 6 years now and I remember working hand in hand with her as my DM when I first started with this company in Center City Philadelphia. From what I can gather they are just cutting the people who are at the top of the pay scale regardless of their value, dedication, and love of the company. I'm doing my best to hang in there, but its getting harder. Now I feel that i'm in a dead end job. I can't move up in the company anymore because they're laying so many people off. Time to polish up the old resume and start seeing what else is going on before we go back to the days of 60+ hour weeks for managers and DMs who care only for profits not people!

[Parisa]

My partner was let go this week also, and my heart breaks for him. He loved this company so much and truly believed in its core mission and values. Having started at the SSC, supporting some of the highest people in the company, he moved away to be with me and worked as an ASM for nearly a year until a regional office opened up. He then worked as a RC and was absolutely devoted to the people he supported. It used to really bug me how little they paid him, but he so truly loved Starbucks that he didn't seem to mind so much. They were his "Starbucks Family."

This week's layoffs have been emotionally devastating for him. He feels let down and betrayed by someone or something he was devoted to.

My own feelings have always been that no matter was SBUX fancies itself to be, it's just another big, publicly traded company, and when times get rough, it will throw its own people under the bus, no matter how rough the ecomony might be. You can dress a pig however you want and put lipstick and mascara on it, but it's still a pig.

Last year, in a documentary about great companies, SBUX was featured as an example of the "Flywheel Principal." That is, it takes many slow years of turning and slow growth to get the wheel up to speed, and then it will grow under its own momentum. Looks like they should have said the Fly-Away-Wheel instead. Howard watched this company grow out of control and spread like fungus. Even The Simpsons had an episode where within five minutes, every store in the mall had turned into a Starbucks, and his was four years ago!! How can you be a "Third Place" and have a drive-thru? Once you have that, you're nothing but a McDonald's or KFC.

I think instead of saying "We are in the people business serving coffee," Howard should just say "We are a Business." Drop the bullshit and call a spade a spade.

[espressoblend]

saw dis dude, he was pissed...ran out of SSC threw over chairs & broke a big pot. News man with cams stood stunned...so waz i...stock rose 5%..some happy dumassed white boyz are da new leaderz

Posted by: pissed | July 29, 2008 at 10:44 PM

What's going on there? What are you trying to say? I'm confused as to what you're trying to tell us.

"White Boyz [sic]"?
"dis [sic]"?

I could go on...

[reality check]

I am not a Starbucks employee but I have been reading the posts here for a couple of months.

I truly feel for those who believed in the company and its principles, and feel lost or disapointed by the recent events. In this day and age, it was nice to have a sense of decency and respect by a big company.

Nonetheless, there is a thread emerging here that those feeling victimized or let down truly needs to pay attention to.
1. Howards is human like everyone else, flawed, and frankly no different now from dozens of other CEO's whose true concern is the bottom line and appeasing the stockholders/board. His public statements for the last several years have been nothing but PR positioning.
2. The Company owes you NOTHING beyond a paycheck. Everyting else was "icing." I can respect loyalty, hard work, and a sense of family in the workplace. I truly admire the support and kind words being shared here for those who have been let go. But at the end of the day, none of this means anything to a multi-national corporation. We are all simply assests or liabilities on a P&L, to be dealt with as necessary.
3. Its okay to greieve and feel sad/betrayed, but life will go on, and I am willing to bet while many of you will look back on your time at Starbucks with fond memries, that a year from now you'll find yourself in a better place, either emotionally, personally, and/or professionally.

So rant or vent here (appropriately, of course) if you need to, get it out of your system, take a deep breathe, and move on. This too shall pass.

If you need to believe in someone or something in the interiem, then get involved in the upcoming elections supporting the candidate of your choice. If you feel that this situation at Starbucks is profound, imagine how you might feel when millions of people are affected.

Good luck to all - I hope to be reading this blog in the upcoming months with stories of change, growth, and success for all of you.

[nottaprofitcenter]

The day Howard bought his basketball team, I stopped believing the Starbucks brand was a priority for him, and stopped believing anything he says. I re-read the guiding principles from the back of my Partner ID card, did not recognize them as anything practiced in MY area of the SSC, and I never worked another hour for my self-serving management-hack bosses again. I walked out the door that day, had my first vacation in years, left them without advance notice and no back-up in my job area, and found a UNION job within days.

If I am ever laid-off from my UNION job, it's already in my contract how they have to go about it and what they have to offer me. Wow, it's almost like I'm a PARTNER! Nearly HUMAN, even!

Starbucks treats non-managers like cattle and promotes managers for failure. If you stop drinking Howard's kool-aid bs, you will see the cult for what it is.

The main difference between Starbucks and any other corporate behemoth? More of their EMPLOYEES buy into the BS, and fewer managers are actually accountable for real results. Partner, my ass!

Use your severance package for personal DE-PROGRAMMING! Your new co-workers will NOT want to hear "Well, when I was at Starbucks, we did it THIS way..." four times per day.

This is a cult. A what? A cult. A what?! A cult! Ohhh, occult!

[former manager]

Been Let Go, Darleen and so many others,
I went through the same grieving process in April when I was let go. (Read the email I sent at the time to Howard here: http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2008/07/by-far-this-is.html#comment-121603110 ) It took many days for me to wade through ten plus years of accumulated Starbucks memorabilia, and it was a less than joyous exercise. However, even as I cleared most of it out, I recovered many gems that reminded me of the best times I had with a once great company and, moreover, of working with some of the finest people I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. Those few gems were placed on the bookshelf to remind me of the many joys and opportunities Starbucks gave me; everything else was carefully packed into what my wife calls the "Starbucks box". One day I may have the heart to look into that box again, but for now I focus only on the good things I took away from my many days with the company.

[Abe]

I was laid off because I didn't know how to make change. I used to always put the bills in the customer's hand, and the coins on top, in a little stack. I never understood why the customers were always dropping the change. Then I was laid off yesterday. My manager said I was supposed to put the coins in the hand first, then the bills. That way the customer can put the bills away in a wallet and then the coins. It has something to do with the opposable thumb. Apparently everyone who gives change in grocery stores gets this right, but at Starbucks, where we give change all day, it's not part of the training. Why wasn't this explained to me before I was laid off?

[Trent]

Well I decided that enough is enough for me. There is something seriously wrong when people like DManagerLA,SFBUXMGR, and Darleen voluntarily leave.

I have been on the fence about leaving....but after yesterday, I finally got pushed over the edge.

So this morning I walked into my local Peet's. They know me very well there because I am a regular there on my days off. They know how much I love coffee. I talked to the manager about how I was feeling at SBUX and he told me he'd love to sit down with me and see what he could do for me.

So we are going to sit down next Friday.

[hope]

My spouse was laid off in Feb. we went through anger ,depression, and a roller coaster of stress. We have begun to move on for Sbux but I must say there is not another company like them. They tried to do what was right for all and in the end it bit them in the green ass. Too bad we would love to be a part of the Sbux world again best job ever.

[Darleen]

Trent,
Please be careful, all eyes are on this website. Believe me when I say that. Also, a word of advice if you don't mind? When you go sit down with the manager at Peet's be careful not to sound emotional about your job with starbucks. A new employer really is in tune with how you speak of an old employer. So paint a positive picture, keep it all about what you will bring to them, not what you feel starbucks took from you, okay? I really wish you would not base your whole career on what has happened but if you really think it is time for you to spread your wings then I wish you much success.

[Curious]

Darleen, did your DM ever bring up your postings on this site?

[Darleen]

Curious I don't want to answer that, sorry. I hope you understand.

[Trent]

Darleen -
Thank you so much for the advice! Oh believe me I know there are many eyes from the SSC on this site, even Howard's. But why would they care if I said I was going to quit?

[ari]

Darleen, you left Starbucks?

[SchulzyManBearPig]

Laid off. Planning to wreak havoc on my last day. Cheers Walnut Hill!

[Darleen]

It would be better to have something lined up first, you know? I'm just thankful I have some cushion time so I can get myself together, have some fun and then hit the ground running. Have you put your notice in?

[Trent]

Oh I hear ya. Yeah for sure I am not putting my notice in until I get the new job. I need to maintain benefits for my family. I'm not going to even speak of my intentions with my partners just because I dont want to kill the already low morale of the store.

[Angela]

I was a SM who left back in April because of the way things were being run. Nothing matched what we had always been taught to do. I miss the company dearly and it is so sad to see this reality hitting so many people. The way Starbucks has changed really hits you at your core. The saddest thing is that Shareholders "like" this change and what they dont realize is that because of them Starbucks will never be in true glory days again. I thought Howard understood that you cant run your business according to Wall Street. Too many of the wrong positions were eliminated while people who dont deserve jobs get to stay and continue to ruin the company. The best managers I know have left on their own and it all came back to very poor decisions by middle management. When Starbucks stopped believing in its own people and bringing in so many from the outside for higher positions, you knew it could only get worse. We wanted to hire fast food people, and now thats we we got. Its a tragedy. Im sorry to everyone who was what Starbucks needed that got let go. Im sorry that the company we all believed in so much let you down.

[Samuel Anderson]

Does anyone know if Starbucks laid off employees from the Art Department at Headquarters? If so could you give any info?

[Torontodude]

I second the words of wisdom from Darleen.

Here is the official list of the occasions when it is acceptable to speak ill of a former employer during a job interview:

Never.

If you can't bite your tongue, you are not yet ready for job interviews. So vent here. Vent to family and friends. Get drunk. Mope around the house. Wallow in self pity.

But don't go for job interviews in that state of mind.

Ready to move on? Test yourself. Have a friend stage a mock interview that includes leading questions designed to provoke you into bad mouthing SBUX.

Rinse and repeat until your friend says you pass the "no bitterness" test.

THEN -- and only then -- start interviewing.

[Duncan is more]

Life begins after Starbucks! Once again, the Starbucks "inner circle" continues to protect themselves and fire the honest hard workers. The fact of the matter is that the "inner circle" are the same ones who ran the company into the ground and they continue to look for scapegoats (DM,SM,ASM etc.). They need to look in the mirror. Most of the "inner circle" could not run a high volume store if their lives depended on it, never mind a rush (line 20+ people deep). Starbucks will never achieve the sucess they once had because: 1) the public has awaken 2) greed got them where they are (build it and they'll come) 3) the "inner circle" is clueless to the real world. They can even try to blame it on the economy, however their internal problems are far too deep rooted to rebound 4) They are no longer a cool place to be. Starbucks is equivalent to the Hummer. Just say NO!

[Parisa]

I agree with "reality check" about a company owing you nothing more than a paycheck, but the culture at SBUX certainly led many to think of their work as more than a mere paycheck. We have many great companies where we live, and at least one of them is ranked way higher than SBUX as "The Best Places to Work," but I have never seen any of their employees seem to have drunk their company's KoolAid as did the SBUX people.

If the company deliberately breeds a culture like SBUX--the "It's all about the Partners" and "We're a people company" baloney--then it does owe something more than a paycheck to the people who in turn give far more to the company than what's on their job description. I saw how my partner went out of his way again and again and again for the company's sake, with me often asking "Are they paying you for any of this??", only to watch him get booted with so many other equally devoted "partners." It just makes one lose hope in our world when you realize that the one company you thought was different from all the others is no different at all.