Starbucks Workers Explain Why Wait Times Have Seemingly Gone Up
If you’ve noticed you’ve had to wait a bit longer for your Starbucks order recently, there might be a reason behind it, according to some current baristas.
Bloomberg spoke with the anonymous employees about the possible explanation for longer wait times. Many stores are understaffed, they say, in part because of an algorithm that the company uses to allocate workers. While this system predicts order numbers and product availability when outlining a staffing plan, many employees say it leaves out the necessary time to incorporate customer requests like cold foam or extra shots of espresso.
On top of that, workers have to jump between in-person, drive-thru, mobile, and delivery orders, resulting in all customers having to wait longer. According to data provider Technomic, about eight percent of Starbucks customers waited between 15 and 30 minutes for their order in the first quarter of this year; by contrast, practically no Starbucks customers were waiting that long at the same time in 2019.
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Starbucks pushed back on perceived issues with the system in a statement on May 28.
“To help determine the number of hours a store needs each week, Starbucks has a highly sophisticated staffing model—unmatched given its precision to support nearly 10,000 Starbucks locations across the U.S.,” the company said. “This approach ensures we have the right number of [employees] working throughout each day to deliver the experience and the products our customers want.”
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The first quarter of this year saw Starbucks’ first quarterly sales decline since 2020. The company doesn’t believe it’s understaffed, but it reportedly acknowledged that longer wait times played a part in the disappointing numbers. Starbucks’ chief reinvention officer Frank Britt told Bloomberg that the algorithm and other staffing policies have been undergoing a revamp in the past year and a half to make sure stores have “enough capacity to meet demand.”
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reiterated this focus on in-store transactions on social media earlier this month, emphasizing “The stores require a maniacal focus on the customer experience.”
