Starbucks Union

IWW Starbucks Workers Union

Up, up and up

Submitted by southbux on Thu, 08/18/2005 - 2:26pm.

I would just like to point out that two out of the three managers I've worked under were hired on as managers and I have had two different managers tell me this is the direction Starbucks is moving in. Managers hired from the outside. I used to work in a store where part of my managers job was to train externally hired managers. From human to robot all in about seven or eight weeks.

If externally hired managers are the flavor of the month then where does that leave all of us who have worked our collective behinds off to move up? Maybe Starbucks is looking for skills in its managers outside of the realm of the bastardized barista it has created. Maybe they think that they have made our jobs so easy and so defined that we do not have the mental capacity to manage a coffee shop. Its kinda scary what lean production methods will do to your brain. Maybe the robots they have created are only good for roboting and nothing more.

A barista with no MBA is a barista forever?

Lemme hear some TESTIMONIALS from people who have CLIMBED that corporate ladder!!!

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cheapwh0re Says:
Thu, 08/18/2005 - 5:11pm

My old manager was a Barista/Supervisor for 3 years before he was promoted for ASM and eventually Manager. By the time he got to Manager he seemed burnt out on the company and quit. My district Manager has partner numbers of 247xxx; I'm pretty sure that's about 10 years with the company. I've never asked him, but I think he was a Barista as he references old drinks and old rules all of the time.

My current Manager and Assistant Manager were both Baristas to start. They both moved up relatively quickly, though. My manager has only been with Starbucks for 3 years [ starting as a Barista ]. My Assistant Manager started as a Barista 2 years ago.

Other Managers that I know personally in my district [ of the 6 that I regularly see and speak with ] 5 were Baristas to start. I think it's very possible to climb the ladder.

I've been talking around, I'm trying to find an RMT store to work at so that I can further my development as a "robot." I work nearly 40 hours a week as it is, might as well get salary for it... I'll let you know how it turns out.

DontFormAUnion Says:
Fri, 08/19/2005 - 1:53am

I only know of a handful of external hires in my area. We're growing so fast we need some though.

cheapwh0re Says:
Fri, 08/19/2005 - 4:25am

At work today, I was looking at our Regional Goals and Expected Data sheets. 70% of RMT ASM SM and DM are projected to be internal. That's all of the figures that are pertenant to this thread, but there was some pretty interesting values on that sheet...

southbux Says:
Fri, 08/19/2005 - 8:26am

Good luck with your RMTing. It would seem that you are in with enough managers to be a DM but RMT is a step in the right direction. More money, guarunteed hours... Seems like the unions demands aren't so unattractive to you after all.

acustomer Says:
Mon, 08/22/2005 - 10:11pm

"I only know of a handful of external hires in my area. We're growing so fast we need some though."

Grow slower.

External hires are lousy. I know from personal experience in non-retail situations. I can see it being worse in retail.

DontFormAUnion Says:
Thu, 08/25/2005 - 11:12pm

acustomer wrote:
"I only know of a handful of external hires in my area. We're growing so fast we need some though."

Grow slower.

External hires are lousy. I know from personal experience in non-retail situations. I can see it being worse in retail.

I'll get right on that, since I have control over that and everything. The only reason Starbucks is building so quickly is because my city is growing quickly. Sometime in the last 10 years everyone decided Phoenix, Arizona was the hot spot to be and moved here. There's so much construction going on I can never keep track of it. There's almost no desert anymore, the city is taking over with new buildings almost monthly.

cheapwh0re Says:
Fri, 08/26/2005 - 1:06am

acustomer wrote:
Grow slower.

Die younger.

What's the point of stunting growth? It's not like we're trying to sell more stocks in the year 2040, so we should stunt all of our store growth until we have enough Baristas to bump everyone else up the corporate ladder so that we won't have any external hires.

Grow as fast as possible. I don't think the company really has to worry about market demands falling, so opening as many stores as possible would be the best corporate action.

My old ASM was an external hire, hired at the same time I was [ just that he started as an ASM ]. He accelerated faster than anyone I've ever seen. Within a few weeks, he was one of our best Baristas, and he still knew his administrative tasks. I think it had a lot to do with where he came from. He came from the real world. He understood that if someone out there is better, chances are they'll replace you. He wasn't lazy, in any sense of the word. He was almost the polar opposite of my previous ASM who worked his way up, and was near burnt out on Starbucks by the time he made it that far.

It's all a matter of situation... but I think for the most part, external hires go through enough of the interview process to be screened just as well as the promoted Supervisors.

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Sun, 01/31/2010 - 3:08am
forex Says:
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 3:08am
forex Says:
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