Starbucks steps up return-to-office policy

SEATTLE — Starbucks is the latest Seattle-based multinational employer to rachet up a return to office policy. While the coffee chain says they’re maintaining a hybrid-work structure, Bloomberg reports Starbucks will be implementing more strict enforcement in the new year, including “separation” from employees who do not comply.

Starbucks confirmed to KIRO 7 that it is not changing its hybrid policy, rather, “We are continuing to support our leaders as they hold their teams accountable to our existing hybrid work policy,” according to a company spokesperson.

Bloomberg estimates the policy will affect about 3,500 corporate-based employees, a fraction of the 350,000 Amazon employees who were told they would have to return to the office full-time, five days a week.

“We are seeing a lot of Amazonians looking for new opportunities and those that are either hybrid and fully remote,” said Maja Hanna, the owner of Seattle Corporate Search, a recruiting firm.

Hanna says clients she works with are looking for the flexibility offered in remote or hybrid work. Research from the Flex Index by Scoop shows Amazon bucking a trend of fewer employers mandating five days in person work. The firm shows 49% of U.S.-based companies required a five-day schedule in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 31% in the second quarter of 2024.

“I do think they’re doing themselves a disservice by mandating these employees or threatening these employees to fully in-office policy or even a hybrid one if they have been used to something else over the last two and a half years,” said Hanna.

An unscientific survey by the organization Blind found 91% of Amazon workers were dissatisfied with the full-time in-person policy and 73% were looking for a new employer because of it.

Washington and Seattle are some of the most common places for remote and hybrid work, Flex Index found, both sporting 90% of companies who offer it. As larger employers look to return workers to the office, Hanna says there are poaching opportunities for other firms.

“The good thing about this is new companies, small to medium-sized businesses, that want to grow and are looking for those talented individuals that want to excel in their roles while supporting a healthy work-life balance,” Hanna said.

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