Starbucks also faces slumping morale and employee burnout
among its store managers and its once-cheery army of baristas.
Stock options for part-timers in the restaurant business was a
Starbucks innovation that once commanded awe and respect
from its employees. But now, though employees are still paid
better than comparable workers elsewhere—about $7 per hour—
many regard the job as just another fast-food gig. Dissatisfaction over odd hours and low pay is affecting the quality of the normally sterling service and even the coffee itself, say some
customers and employees. Frustrated store managers among the
company’s roughly 470 California stores sued Starbucks in 2001
for allegedly refusing to pay legally mandated overtime. Starbucks settled the suit for $18 million, shaving $0.03 per share
off an otherwise strong second quarter. However, the heart of the
complaint—feeling overworked and underappreciated—doesn’t
seem to be going away.