Starbucks employees are speaking out after the company recently announced widespread store closures and nearly 900 corporate layoffs across North America.
While Starbucks insists the restructuring will strengthen its business long-term, the immediate impact is being felt by baristas and longtime staff suddenly facing job losses.
In a letter to partners on Thursday, CEO Brian Niccol said the closures and layoffs are part of the company’s “Back to Starbucks” plan, aimed at putting more resources toward customer-facing roles and redesigned stores. But for many on the ground, the news has come as a shock.
Niccol acknowledged the human impact of the restructuring in his letter, calling the decisions “difficult” but necessary for growth.
“Our coffeehouses are centres of the community, and closing any location is difficult,” he wrote. “These steps are necessary to build a better, stronger, and more resilient Starbucks.”
WORKERS REACT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Starbucks employees are documenting their frustration and uncertainty online.
One barista shared on TikTok that her store was permanently shut down, leaving her and her coworkers “jobless” without warning. In the caption of her video, she said she was hopeful about being transferred to another location, but the future remains unclear.
@chimmminnie posting all my drafts from my store 🥲💔🥹 long live first and nob hill Starbucks 💔 okay but seriously I hope they transfer me, but I don’t wanna get my hopes up…..🥹😭 #tobeapartner #starbucks #sbux #yakima #starbuckslayoffs ♬ sonido original – IKNO GC
Another creator revealed they were laid off after nine years with Starbucks, while a third said their four-year run with the company ended abruptly.
@vinnymill Welp thanks for 9 years @starbuckscanada #fyp #barista #fypシ #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #toronto ♬ original sound – Korrx.vspx || Scarlet.xwitch
In her video, she described how stores are being closed “left and right,” with “underperforming location” signs slapped on doors without much of a goodbye. She added that the layoffs are part of a billion-dollar restructuring effort, writing: “This feels like just the beginning.”
@not.ellieeh After working with Starbucks for 4 years, they finally laid me off 💔 Rn I just want people to know what really goes on behind the counter. Here’s some stuff they’ll never say out loud: They’re closing stores left and right. No warning, no goodbyes — just “underperforming location” signs slapped on the doors. It’s all part of a $1 billion restructure. A bunch of us were quietly let go. And truthfully? This feels like just the beginning. 900+ corporate employees are already gone. Not baristas — office people. HR, ops, support staff. The folks who kept the machine running. If they’re cutting them, how long before the rest of us? The dress code got ridiculous. Solid black tops only, no patterns, no colors. Jeans had to be exact shades. Tattoos covered. No perfume. All “to protect the brand.” AI tracks everything now. Every bag of beans, every bottle of syrup. If you’re short even a little, you get flagged. Some of us triple-checked counts just to avoid “coaching.” No more cup doodles. Remember those “You got this!” notes or little holiday sketches baristas used to leave? Yeah, banned. We got coached for that too. Now it’s “names only.” Oh, and the “Secret Menu”? Totally fake. It’s all customer-made online. We had to memorize random TikTok drinks on the fly, or get yelled at for not knowing. No training. No recipe guide. Just chaos. One last thing most people don’t know: If you go to [Starperks.store] you can actually grab Starbucks gift cards for your drinks. Me and a couple coworkers used it every Wednesday before closing shift. It’s not public — just something passed around quietly at work. If you’re reading this, try it while it still works. Just… don’t tell corporate I told you. if you’ve ever worked retail and felt underappreciated, please share your experiences below #starbucks #layoffs #fyp ♬ sonido original – IKNO GC
INSIDE THE LAYOFFS
For 21-year-old Catherine Markina, a full-time business management student at Toronto Metropolitan University, the closure of her Starbucks location meant losing more than just a part-time job.
Markina had been with the company for more than a year and was preparing for a performance development conversation — a chance to discuss her future growth within Starbucks — when the call from her manager came.
Instead of an opportunity, she was told her store would shut its doors in just two days, leaving her and her coworkers without jobs.
“I thought my manager was calling to tell me I’d be training new hires,” she recalled. “Instead, I was told Saturday would be our last day. I was in complete shock. This was the last thing I expected from a company like Starbucks,” Markina told Now Toronto on Tuesday.
For Markina, the job provided not only flexibility as a student but also a sense of stability.
“It gave me the sense of security that I can just finish my education with the sense that I will have my rent paid and all my bills covered, because I had a lot of coworkers who were working in Starbucks for, eight, nine years, so obviously in my mind, I was like, OK, so we’re good,” she said.
Although she had savings and quickly began looking for new work, she worried about colleagues in tougher financial positions.
“It was such an emotional couple of days. And even though I’m not an emotional person, it made me kind of sad that all of this is happening. I just feel bad. I would say more for my partners in the store, because some of them, they’re in a more difficult position than I am, and I just hope that they will find something really quick and I just wish that it was just a push for a better future, for better opportunities. I hope that this is the case, and this is how it’s gonna be for them and for all of us,” she said.
She added that what hurt most was the lack of notice.
“I cannot believe this decision was made overnight. I do not believe it. I’m sure they were planning this and a little heads-up would be great, at least a week or two or something, because two days notice. It is crazy.”
STORE CLOSURES AND JOB CUTS
Starbucks confirmed to Now Toronto that after reviewing its North American portfolio, certain coffeehouses deemed financially unsustainable or unable to meet design goals will be closed.
The company expects a net decline of about one per cent (about 400 stores) in company-operated stores this fiscal year, ending 2025 with nearly 18,300 locations across the U.S. and Canada.
In addition to the closures, about 900 non-retail roles will be eliminated, with affected staff being notified last week. Starbucks says it is offering severance packages, extended benefits, and transfer opportunities for baristas where possible.
At the same time, Starbucks plans to upgrade more than 1,000 stores over the next year with warmer designs and to increase staffing at peak times.
The company says pilot efforts have already shown improvements in sales, service times, and customer satisfaction.
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