The Reality Behind Working at Starbucks: Baristas Share Their Experiences

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Recently, many readers have been asking me questions about working at Starbucks cafés. Looking at reviews about Starbucks on Zhihu, most mention that Starbucks' wages are extremely low. From a data perspective, baristas earn 2,500-3,000 RMB monthly, and that's before deductions. Currently, the majority of Starbucks partners are under 25 years old. After 25, earning such a monthly salary is indeed quite low...

1. Starbucks Working Hours and Operational Time

An 8-hour work system, plus meal and rest time, totals 9 hours daily, with two days off per week. However, these are rotating days off, with daily shifts divided into morning, afternoon, and evening. Since Starbucks operates in different markets across China, the actual operations of each market and each store vary. Staffing configurations also have slight differences. However, the basic work positions remain the same. Closing duties include: collecting pastries, cleaning the bar area, and cleaning below equipment and the lobby.

Pastry duty is mainly responsible for cleaning the pastry cabinet and marking out pastries. Bar duty is primarily responsible for cleaning the espresso machine and coffee grinder, as well as pre-cleaning other items at the bar station. Below equipment and slide lobby duties are mainly responsible for cleaning the back area's drainage, cleaning the café, cleaning plates and dishes, and organizing outdoor seating!

2. Starbucks Operational Hierarchy Structure

Shared by HelloWorld:

Starbucks has an annual management trainee program (recruiting from universities). The career path for management trainees is the reserve store manager route. Management trainees are required to have a bachelor's degree and must start from the most basic barista position.

Barista (BB) - Star Barista, essentially the most basic service position.

Barista Trainer (BT) - Star Barista Trainer. After completing barista training, if capable, they can be developed as BTs, or trainers, who can train new baristas. Training new people is also seen as a necessary path to promotion to the next position. From BB to BT is not considered a true promotion as there's no salary increase.

Shift Supervisor (SS) - Shift Supervisor. After becoming familiar with overall store operations and passing interviews with regional managers, one can be promoted to SS. Typically, a regular store has 3-5 resident SSs. SSs are responsible for store cash management, meaning daily settlement, or to put it simply, calculating large amounts of money that isn't yours. Besides helping others count money, there are also some store administrative tasks, including managing store food safety issues (more details on administrative work categories later).

Assistant Store Manager (ASM) - Assistant Store Manager. From the literal English meaning, you can understand this position's responsibilities - helping the store manager do the store manager's job.

Store Manager (SM) - Store Manager. Basically, this is the ultimate leader and person responsible for a Starbucks store. Within a store, they have almost all rights in personnel and operations except absolute authority over promotions and salary increases (which require regional manager approval). Generally, besides operations and training, store managers need to schedule store personnel, handle and coordinate various internal and external store matters, conduct month-end inventory counts, month-end settlements, etc. Of course, they need to be responsible for the store's sales data.

District Manager (DM) - District Manager. Has ultimate responsibility for personnel and operations of all stores within a district (typically 10-15 Starbucks stores). Of course, promotion from SS to ASM requires approval from the next level manager. After that, they are responsible for the district's sales data, meaning responsible for how much money is made.

Among the above levels, starting from ASM and above, the store's sales performance will affect that partner's performance bonus. For partners below the ASM level, store sales have no direct relationship with their wages.

Promotions are generally decided by the DM. Promotion from SS to ASM is decided by the DM's superior, the Operations Manager (OM), meaning ASM to SM promotion also doesn't require OM decision. Promotion to ASM is basically the threshold to becoming mid-to-low level management at Starbucks. After becoming an ASM and completing training, if there's a new store or SM vacancy, ASMs naturally get promoted to SM. Starting from ASM, each person can play a decisive role in every subordinate's promotion.

Operations Manager (OM) - Operations Manager, also considered a regional manager who directly receives work reports from DMs. Generally, one OM manages multiple DMs, including responsibility for regional operations.

Positions above this are generally considered middle to senior management at Starbucks. An OM typically oversees stores in several cities. Above that would be a large regional leader (Starbucks China has Central West, North, South, and East China regions).

I've only reached this level at Starbucks, so that's all I can say.

Additionally, at the SM position, one can transition from operations to administrative positions at the Partner Support Center (including HR, training, finance, and other administrative departments).

Coffee Master Level

Generally, only partners at DM level and below participate in this direction of training and assessment, because OM and above positions no longer need this title to "impress" them, and they don't have time to participate in this type of learning. However, they do participate as assessors.

Coffee Master (CM) - Coffee Master, these are the partners you usually see in stores wearing black aprons (non-coffee master partners generally wear green aprons). Coffee Master is essentially the entry level.

Coffee Master assessment generally includes written exams and interviews. The written exam covers all content from a book, followed by an interview that includes coffee tasting, action plan explanations, and of course, latte art. The black apron really feels impressive... (but actually has little practical use). The black apron requires knowledge of coffee facts, coffee origins, coffee bean stories, flavors, knowing how to describe them, and knowing how to taste them.

Coffee Masters need to be recertified annually, but this process is sometimes overlooked. Originally wearing a black apron and then changing to a green apron is quite embarrassing - I've never heard of it or seen it happen.

Moreover, in the current environment, there are many more Coffee Masters than before, and assessments are much simpler (generally, each region has training targets, and if not met, district managers face pressure from superiors, so reducing assessment strictness is natural). Consequently, the quality level is much lower. So now, Coffee Masters aren't as rare, and their quality varies greatly. (If you meet a Coffee Master who can't do latte art, don't force them to perform latte art - perhaps they really can't do it).

District Coffee Master (DCM) - District Coffee Master, as the name implies, is someone responsible for Coffee Master affairs within a small district. This generally includes training and selecting new Coffee Masters, organizing coffee classroom activities, arranging coffee culture events, etc. This position has also become watered down - there can be several in one small district, meaning in a district with only one DM, there can be several DCMs. If you want to know who is a DCM, there's a slight difference from CM aprons, but not significant. It's also a black apron, but on the apron, around the left chest position, there's an embroidered white partner name. (Of course, some partners embroider this name themselves to avoid wearing a name tag).

Coffee Ambassador (CA) - I think I spelled this correctly, Coffee Ambassador, wearing brown aprons. Every two years, Starbucks holds a Coffee Ambassador competition. Competition content includes coffee latte art, coffee tasting, creative beverages, coffee blind tasting, professional knowledge assessment, etc. This is a competitive competition (the previously mentioned Coffee Master assessment is non-competitive - as long as the assessor thinks you're qualified, you're a Coffee Master). This means that among participants, you need to be better than others to earn this title. Because typically, each large region has only one Coffee Ambassador annually, and then there's a China-wide Coffee Ambassador. Of course, this title is only valid for 2 years.

3. Division of Labor in Store Operations

During store operations, there are generally 4 positions, meaning if a partner works today, they might be assigned to one of these 4 positions. I'll only give a general explanation here. Starbucks has its own complete set of store manpower deployment rules, which I won't detail too extensively.

These 4 positions are: Bar workstation, Cashier workstation, Lobby cleaning, and IC (In Charge, meaning the person responsible for the store, generally SS or above level partners).

Bar Workstation

Quite simple - make beverages, call customers to pick them up, confirm with customers that their drinks are correct, and remake drinks if there are problems until the customer is satisfied. In high-traffic stores (stores with many customers), there might be multiple people at the bar workstation simultaneously to ensure customers get their drinks in a shorter time.

Cashier Workstation

This is also easy to understand - take payments, then mark on the cup what beverage this customer ordered. Starbucks has its own marking system that every partner knows, and it's one of the mandatory training courses after joining. Partners at the bar workstation only need to look at the cup, without asking the cashier partner, to know what beverage to make. Additionally, there's sales - recommending pastries to customers, Starbucks cards, and some seasonal products that need promotion.

Lobby Cleaning

All these are quite easy to understand - clean the lobby area to ensure empty seats are clean. Generally, this partner will clean the lobby area following a certain route every 10-20 minutes, including restrooms. At other times, this partner might help bar partners, cashier partners, or replenish used materials (including preparing mocha sauce for mochas, chocolate base for chocolate drinks, and bringing cups and lids from the back area to easily accessible places for operations partners).

IC (In Charge)

During a particular shift, this person is responsible for everything in the store. Generally, this position is held by shift supervisors, store managers, or assistant store managers. This person has the authority to assign responsibilities to other partners in the same shift (the 3 points mentioned above), and is also responsible for everything that happens in the store during this shift period. They have the final decision-making and execution power for all store matters during this time. Of course, for major events, approval from superiors is definitely needed before taking action.

Starbucks' manpower allocation is incredibly thorough, to the point where it can be said they scientifically exploit every employee, using a scientific manpower deployment and allocation system to allow an average of about 5 employees to handle a customer flow of around 150 per shift.

This involves an indicator, IPLH, whose full English name I don't quite remember, but whose Chinese meaning is how many beverages or sales one person can complete in an hour. The calculation method is: (Total daily beverage preparation quantity + merchandise and pastry transaction quantity) / Total work hours. Starbucks has strict requirements for this indicator. If it's below a certain value, they reduce the number of working staff. If it's above a certain value, they don't necessarily increase the number of working staff.

Therefore, working operational shifts at Starbucks is particularly tough. To give you some data, for stores with 300 daily transactions, the expected IPLH is 10-12. I previously worked at a store with similar transaction volume where my IPLH exceeded 20 for several consecutive days.

4. Administrative Division of Labor in Starbucks Stores

Throughout Starbucks, there's a distinction between operational positions and administrative positions. Within a store, partners at shift supervisor level and above also need to complete administrative work for the store. This is generally referred to internally as "responsibilities."

Administrative work in a store is basically divided into the following:

Ordering

From Starbucks' backend system, based on current store inventory and estimated usage, calculate and "order" items needed by the store (including coffee beans, syrups, or non-food items like napkins, paper cups, cup lids, etc. - basically everything the store uses can be "ordered" in this system). The reason "order" is in quotes is that this system is Starbucks' own, so no money needs to be paid, but the cost of each item is reflected in each store's P&L statement, affecting the performance of ASM and above level partners. Therefore, it's important to ensure monthly order quantities are relatively consistent.

The calculation formula for order quantity, if I remember correctly:

Order quantity = Safety stock quantity - Current inventory quantity

Safety stock quantity = (Ending inventory - Beginning inventory) / Time × Ordering cycle × Safety stock coefficient

Here, time refers to the period from beginning to ending inventory, ordering cycle refers to the time from initial order to second delivery, and the safety coefficient is generally 1.15.

This ordering process is probably similar to other retail stores' ordering rules and methods. Product ordering time points also vary - generally, shorter shelf-life items like pastries, milk, and cream are ordered more frequently, which is easy to understand.

Training

Training new partners, training existing employees to understand new promotional information. There's not much to say here - it's about ensuring everyone completes learning what they need to know. Although there's not much to say, this responsibility is quite important as it relates to employee performance and development.

Finally, how are the wages and promotions at Starbucks?

A friend worked at Starbucks for three years and is still an ordinary partner, which is really too long. To apply for a Starbucks store manager position, you need more than five years of Starbucks work experience, and you must currently be in a shift leader position to qualify for new store manager applications (application also requires passing exams and assessments). As for wages... let's hear from Starbucks partners:

Cute Tiger Eats Chickens (Starbucks Barista): Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region partner benefits. Part-time students earn 17.5 RMB per hour, with a voucher worth 300 RMB given after 80 hours. During festivals, zongzi, mooncakes, and cakes are distributed, plus year-end bonuses. This benefit package probably exceeds 95% of normal student part-time jobs. After one year of full-time work, after deducting five social insurances and one housing fund, take-home pay is 4,000+ RMB. With double salary at year-end plus year-end bonus, you can get around 20,000 RMB more, which should be considered quite good in the service industry where education isn't highly valued.

@ Rabbit Sister Tuan: I don't think it's low - it IS low. Like the original poster, I worked part-time at Starbucks during university. Good environment, relaxed atmosphere. When I did well, I became a BT and then was promoted to part-time SS, earning over 1,000 RMB per month, which was pretty good for a student. Plus living expenses from home, and the benefits are really good - two free drinks daily, 10 partner vouchers per month, zongzi mooncake cards during festivals, morning and evening shift tastings. I have to say Starbucks' humanistic approach and corporate culture are done very well. They recruit long-term part-timers because the training period is actually quite long - standard is three months, requiring passing exams on three modules, all beverage preparation, and environmental maintenance have their own strict standards. Regarding coffee culture, coffee classrooms, testing for Coffee Master - these all make you feel like you're constantly improving and growing. However, when I was earning less than 11 RMB per hour part-time, not far away, H&M was paying 19 RMB per hour.

Starbucks has an annual management trainee program (recruiting from universities). The career path for management trainees is the reserve store manager route. Management trainees are required to have a bachelor's degree and must start from the most basic barista position, reaching store manager within one to two years. In reality, reaching store manager in two years is very rare.

Most people are still struggling at the ASM or RMT positions, though some very experienced externally hired store managers can take over stores. Promotion cycles basically don't exist for part-timers because Starbucks has no development plans for part-time staff. Part-time to full-time conversion is just conversion - you remain in whatever position you had before.

The coffee industry is always a service industry and cannot be compared with other industries - they're not in the same weight class. Many regular coffee shops don't have holiday overtime pay, don't have weekends off, and might not even have insurance. Several friends of mine have been working at a coffee shop for four years now, with no room for promotion and no hope in sight, earning low wages. Starbucks isn't necessarily great, nor are the wages and benefits particularly high, but it's standardized management that lets you move forward step by step, allowing you to see a glimmer of hope and perhaps a better future...

Why do Starbucks, Costa, KFC, and McDonald's coffee shops have such high turnover rates?

Low wages are an industry-wide problem. After all, you need to live, support a family, and make a living. Sometimes you can barely support yourself. From baristas' souls:

From Starbucks @ I'm a Pei***

As a former partner, I'm really happy! Although I only worked for one year, the experiences felt like many years. Starting at the first Starbucks in XX ancient capital, then the store closed for renovation, then from one partner's resignation leading to almost the entire store's partners resigning, it seems everyone saw many things clearly. Just as some people say, joining Starbucks is like reincarnation - perhaps we were reincarnated into the wrong family... Working with the anxiety of a drug dealer while earning the wages of a cabbage seller... From doing QA until 11 PM without overtime pay, to selling cups, selling mooncakes, selling zongzi, chasing data (all that food UPT... can go to hell). Do they really understand the partners' hardships? Today's Starbucks just blindly chases data, looks at performance, forces partners to sell cards and pastries. What hand-poured temperament ice cream? The partners' efforts and income are completely disproportionate. As far as I know, almost every Starbucks store in the entire western region is hiring. Why is the turnover rate so high? Doesn't Starbucks have any idea? Plus, if you don't meet a good store manager and encounter certain shift managers, going to work becomes a nightmare. Why else would you stay there? What disgusts us most is learning that at a store manager meeting, our store manager said the mass departure of store partners was a disaster and blamed it on certain people. Don't you understand the reason yourself? As a 10-year store manager, can't you see your own faults? All mistakes lie with the partners. No wonder you've only been a store manager for 10 years when some become store managers in 2-3 years. Truly, no comparison, no harm... I've said too much and it's all tears.

From KFC @ Xiao*: I'm wondering why no one is complaining about KFC. Wages are lower than Starbucks, and there are more promotional products. Every month there are new products, daily tracking of thousands of transactions, sales volumes, and revenue not meeting targets.

Direct bonuses are discounted, 13-month salary becomes quarterly bonuses, with only a few hundred RMB each quarter. If you accidentally fail an audit, you lose even that few hundred.

From Costa @ Edison**

Starbucks wages are low, but are Costa wages low?

From Starbucks @ Mo Xian*

After working at Starbucks for two years, looking back, I have no idea how I survived. Working 6 consecutive days, resting one day, then working another 6 consecutive days. Many people might look down on this and say many jobs are like this, but please think about it - when you're at work, you have to transform into a "cleaning lady," "front desk salesperson," "dishwasher," "mover," "beverage maker," and sometimes even customers' "babysitter." Excluding meal and rest times, standing, walking, and running for 8 consecutive hours. If this is called being a barista, I really have nothing to say. I experienced the DB (DP?) 3.0 transformation and had to attend late-night meetings, then immediately work morning shifts. Going home to shower and rushing back to work. I experienced a store that changed 3 store managers in 2 years, each with different management styles, forcing me to start from scratch each time. One store manager told me, "Don't just work hard silently at home, you need to obviously let others know you're working hard." So the nicely said weekends off were actually doing various unpaid overtime at the store. Complaining about wages becomes pale. After working for two years, when I was about to leave, my wages were pitifully small. If I wanted to buy anything slightly, I'd have to eat instant noodles for a month. In the end, I ruined my health (developed lumbar disc herniation). The last store manager gave me various difficulties. Put nicely, it was giving me opportunities. Put bluntly, they wanted to drive me away. When my back hurt terribly and I wanted to take sick leave, I couldn't. Thinking about not making things difficult for the store and store manager, I pushed through. They scheduled me for four consecutive evening shifts. I was truly desperate to death. In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and resigned. The store manager didn't try to keep me at all. As soon as I finished saying I wanted to resign, the store manager immediately turned to me and said, "When do you want to leave?" My heart turned completely cold.

From Starbucks @ Paranoid × M**

Nearly four years at Starbucks, the last two were just toughing it out. Every day I relied on reminiscing about the past with old partners and using bathroom time to smoke to numb myself. After being promoted to assistant store manager, I felt panic every day - worried about customer complaints, worried about QA, worried about training, worried about various inspections. Most feared was the boss checking surveillance cameras. The 360-degree no-blind-spot bar surveillance isn't to protect partners; it's to monitor their every move. Everything is constrained by various rules and regulations. Before, chatting with customers was genuine communication; later it became a formality because the beverage service process requires you to communicate with customers. Smiling became a fixed expression because I was afraid of being complained about and the boss checking surveillance to find me with a stern face. It's ridiculous when you think about it. Every day I had to write various reports. Going to work was just to "sell" - sell promotional beverages, sell cups, sell mooncakes, sell zongzi. Let me ask, whose social media feed isn't filled with Starbucks micro-business posts? With a monthly salary of over 3,000 RMB, you really can't do anything. The only good thing might be that medical expenses can be reimbursed. Speaking of illness, I was a healthy young person when I joined Starbucks, but when I left, my cervical spine had severely lost its natural curvature. The doctor holding my report said this clearly belonged to someone in their forties or fifties. Every morning I woke up with numb arms. Stomach problems, back pain, neck pain, endocrine disorders, irregular periods - these are all common complaints among Starbucks partners. The eagerly anticipated year-end bonus every year makes people want to cry. Most Starbucks partners I know say when leaving: this company is too heartbreaking. Perhaps it's not about wages - any other reason would make partners leave. In leaders' eyes, there's only performance. All the corporate culture contained in this goddess logo is very hypocritical in Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai Starbucks. When I left, my store manager cut my employee card for me. My heart felt incredibly relieved. Four years of youth...

From Costa @ Wen Xiaomao

As a Costa employee, I completely agree! After working for 5.5 years, management staff take home just over 3,000 RMB. Hope wages increase soon, I can't hold on much longer!

From McDonald's @ Cookie

I just want to ask why no one is complaining about McDonald's? Store management staff take home 3,000 RMB after insurance deductions! Much less than Starbucks! Floor staff are more numerous than in coffee shops, customers are more mixed, and there's more work. People get poached by various industries.

From McDonald's @ Twelve Sauce

At McDonald's, you have to clean the oil-water separator. , to put it bluntly, you have to clean...

From a soon-to-leave Starbucks partner @ Big Big

Outsiders might find it boring, but reality is reality. Some people say to put yourself in others' shoes, but you're always speaking for others. Do you really consider what's in employees' hearts? Employees love coffee, but don't they need to live? Other companies have sales targets, but they have commissions. There's a 10-minute paid break every 4 hours, but we have to stand for 4 hours. A 10-minute paid break🙂 10 minutes🙂 When busy, there's no break at all. 🙂 With a monthly salary of 3,000 RMB, after deducting rent, utilities, and food, you're in the negative. Life becomes a problem, and you're still talking about this??? Are employees not human? Chinese labor costs are cheap. Companies control work hours. To put it bluntly, they're forcing out full-time staff to recruit part-timers. 🙃--From a partner about to leave.

Barista is a profession with a low entry barrier and even lower industry wages. Yet outsiders flock to this profession. Baristas seem to work in high-end environments, sheltered from wind and sun, with relaxed work - feeling like they just chat with customers and make coffee. Of course, it's more than that. In reality, every barista needs to hold multiple positions. Many well-known chain coffee shops pay unbelievably low wages. What about Luckin Coffee, which is rumored to pay high wages?

From Luckin Coffee Barista @ M

It's all hype. In the Beijing region, recruitment information lists a comprehensive salary of 8,000+, but in reality, even store managers only get 4,500.

From Luckin Coffee Barista @ Belly*

I'm an employee at Luckin, won't disclose which store since I work for them, but since I'm speaking out, I'm not afraid. Lies require more lies to deal with - too tiring. Putting aside taste issues, I think Luckin's coffee is good coffee. Good coffee beans, good roasting, very fresh coffee beans. Baristas need pre-job training before going to stores. These 4 points completely satisfy Mr. Taguchi's definition of good coffee in his book "The Coffee Equation." Remember, good coffee, not necessarily tasty coffee. But what's frustrating is when city manager-level leaders come to inspect stores, they don't ask store managers about store performance, don't ask about employee work situations, don't ask about operational difficulties - they only ask about how to do cleaning. Haha, I can only laugh loudly. City manager-level leaders have such high vision, I admire them 100 times. Even higher-level leaders require female employees to wear hair flowers, like those in hotpot restaurants. Haha, this is a coffee shop, my brother, I'm impressed again. Perhaps 40-something men have too unique tastes. I'm not surprised by such things. Leaders' focus isn't on coffee. After nearly half a year at Luckin, Luckin University has many videos on how to do cleaning, but not a single one on professional coffee knowledge teaching. To be honest, although I'm their employee, sometimes when I and my partners break order records, I get very excited. But sometimes I'm truly saddened by those high-and-mighty leaders. I love coffee. Coffee has expanded my network, and coffee has enriched my lifestyle. I hope Luckin's leaders focus more on coffee. Even at C-level stores, you can give customers great coffee experiences. After all, our partners aren't cleaning aunties and uncles. Only when the team is strong will the enterprise be strong. We all have a coffee dream. Please respect it. Thank you. I hope one day leaders will share their coffee experiences with us, their understanding of coffee, and I hope to share a single-origin bean with them.

Once you enter coffee, it's like a deep sea, and savings become passersby.

Without passion for coffee, it's really hard to persist as a barista...

@ CzAR·South

Elegant movements, proper appearance, atmosphere-controlling communication make a good barista so dashing. Even for 3,000 RMB, making those heavily powdered faces at the bar exclaim and marvel, intoxicated to death and life...—this isn't the pleasure and numbness that money can bring.

@Dynames

I'm 24. It took me about 10 years to find the profession I truly want to do. Even if this profession is miserable, I'll persist.

@Xiao Yi

I entered this industry at nineteen, and after three years, I've gone from coffee apprentice to today's barista, from Wuhan to Shanghai, from love to rose... chasing my dreams along the way.

@Uncle's Milk Tea Shop

I opened a coffee shop, originally wanting to be a boss but ended up as a service worker.

@JoseLus

Coffee is poison, once you love it, you can't quit. Forget 3,000, I played happily even with 1,800.

@wayne=Wei

Every day is very hard and tiring, but the more tired I am, the more I feel that I truly love coffee. If I didn't, I would have quit long ago!

Thank you all for your comments. If you want to be a barista, you shouldn't consider how much money you can earn in the coffee industry, but rather how much you're willing to spend on coffee to fulfill your dream: opening a coffee shop.

You could say, because of love for coffee,

I joined this coffee industry.

As for the barista profession in China,

it can be simply summarized:

Glamorous on the surface, miserable inside.

Those who agree, please raise your hand.

Please indicate the source when reprinting. This article aims to spread coffee culture. If there's any infringement, please inform us for removal. Thank you! For coffee industry exchanges, please add the editor's personal WeChat FrontStreet, ID: qiannjie

Fan comments:

@Miaomiaomi

The first Starbucks comment, I completely agree. Blindly chasing data, not meeting good ICs and SMs, life is worse than death, everyone understands. Miss the early days of joining, miss the former partners.

@So what

Where do these resigning baristas get hired? Coffee shop preparing to open...

@Lin Moumou🍤

If you like coffee, why go to Starbucks? To be honest, besides management worth learning, Starbucks is useless in technical aspects.

@Simon

As someone with over six years of experience, I grew up at McDonald's and then changed jobs. But I never think McDonald's, or what you call Starbucks, Costa have any major problems. Is your ideal job just chatting with customers a bit, then sitting on the sofa basking in the sun when there's nothing to do? If these companies were so terrible, why are they Fortune 500! Read less negative content, have more positive emotions, life is for living yourself.

@ k

"As a former Starbucks partner. Personally, I feel what you mentioned above doesn't count as hardship. I left Starbucks many years ago, grateful for the humility, patience, hard work, and respect I learned at Starbucks... After leaving Starbucks, I used Starbucks' spirit to persevere in other industries. Of course, I went from an industry practitioner to a company owner. Most of the feedback comments are from people under 30. At thirty, you're not qualified to complain about hardship. Asian record holder Chengdu TKL Starbucks, former team member." Treat coffee as a lifestyle and attitude. If you say it's bitter, it means you haven't endured enough hardship. It has nothing to do with boutique culture itself, but with your perspective level.

@Zhan Miwan Zzt

To the Luckin person, hygiene issues are actually very important.

@Lin Liangxian

Started at the bar in 2019, initially worked at a beverage station in a bakery! Three years of contribution passed, following the boss, handling sales, training, bar design, machine installation, menu design. 20 months, the dream shattered. Looking back, I couldn't find a store paying 3,000, and couldn't survive. Contributed over 5 years!!! By the way, let me share a cold joke I saw today: People say you shouldn't have your fortune told, as it becomes thinner each time. But you have to believe it. A fortune teller once said I would wear yellow robes after 30, accompanied by delicacies daily, with transportation available when going out. Now I deliver food for Meituan, my god, the prediction was too accurate.

@Cody

Why is no one mentioning Pacific Coffee?

@Chen Koala

Reading the comments, one sentence stands out: aiming high but achieving little. Very well said. First, reading a bunch of comments, it's clear these people aren't ordinary full-time or part-time staff, they're management. Your work system isn't calculated by hourly wage. And what's wrong with companies chasing data? Shouldn't companies develop? Complaining when standards aren't met? Wanting full bonuses when standards aren't met? Used to getting something for nothing? As management, if there are no employees to do cleaning, naturally you do it. This is the service industry. Don't think about being some lofty barista. Even if you're really that noble, opening your own shop wouldn't you still need to clean? Try having a storefront full of garbage, see if anyone comes for your coffee no matter how good it is. You go there to learn management, then those who want to stay will naturally survive through natural selection. If you think you're at a disadvantage and won't do it, others do it and get promoted, don't complain about why they were promoted and not you. Society is cruel.

@Nero

So the real problems are always on the table. Most comments are from partners earning 3,000 RMB complaining. What about store manager level? Many times, people don't give up because of hardship or fatigue, but because when effort and reward are disproportionate, even the greatest passion gets extinguished. I saw one comment that said: he's full of passion for coffee, full of feelings for this company. Forget 3,000, even if it's only 1,800, he's willing to do it. Then I want to add a precondition: if he has no savings, family conditions aren't good enough to provide support, and besides this 3,000 RMB salary, there's no other income, how long can such passion be supported by 3,000 RMB? Unfortunately, I'm exactly such a full-time partner. So I completely understand the thinking of those resigning partners. I'm not trying to encourage partners to resign, but when facing life and dreams, someone always has to make a choice. I joined Starbucks because of my yearning and passion for coffee, earned the black apron, became a District Coffee Master, participated in competitions, won first place in Zhejiang - these were all my efforts for my dream. But because of life and reality, my girlfriend of nearly six years and I went our separate ways a few days ago. I can only choose to leave. I don't know how much longer my coffee dream can persist. I only know I need to live, I need to eat.

@Nick Ning

Recruiting baristas 6,000+ hahahaha Can I advertise? I'm really short-handed.

@Friday Cafe

Even if you resign, it's not like the company goes bankrupt, right? Because the company's core backbone is still there. In the same company, why can others become core talent, while you become a bucket of bad luck? Why don't others feel the wages and benefits are poor? Hahaha~ So, it can only be said that you see different scenery from different positions.

@Mr. Jun

I don't want to hear that crap about ability being proportional to salary, because people who say that definitely haven't worked at chain coffee shops like Starbucks. If you tried working there, you'd understand how foolish your words sound. Clearly a skilled worker described as a technical worker (don't argue, Starbucks' method of pursuing consistent taste really doesn't count as technical work). We want effort proportional to return. To put it bluntly, old employees can do supervisors' work but still get employee wages. Conversely, supervisors' wages aren't a few hundred higher than employees'. What does ability have to do with wages? I just want to say one thing: no one is a philanthropist, and no one can live on passion forever. I only know that the first thing I need to be clear about when I come to work is that I'm here to earn money. The profit of a cup of coffee is six times the cost of ingredients, while our wages are only three percent of the revenue we create through hard work. If this were you, I don't think you'd say such hypocritical things.

@Daphne

I think everyone is misled by the word "teacher" in "barista." Baristas, both domestically and internationally, are just service staff. Many people complain about low wages, having to do cleaning, etc. This industry has a low barrier to entry, skills are easily replicated, and the profession itself has little value. Doing cleaning, serving customers - these are things you should do. Just like great chefs who only get helpers to clean up after becoming great chefs. I think everyone should wake up. If you want better treatment, first ask yourself if you have the ability.

@W!NG

McDonald's, tried working 12-13 hours a day, five days in a row. When short-staffed, worked 13 consecutive days without rest, switching from night to morning shifts. After becoming a manager, had to be on call 24/7, earning just over 3,000. Goodbye.

@JACK

Ridiculously, Starbucks has regulations preventing partners from discussing salaries. As a university part-time partner, I immediately knew this would always be my part-time job.

@In a blink.

Actually every barista needs to hold multiple positions.

When I read this, I almost cried.

Besides my main job, I have two part-time jobs.

@Unknown

What barista? Our Jiangsu RDO Zhuang only comes to stores to clean toilets, asking partners to stick their hands in the toilet to scrub...

For their own political achievements, weekend food buy-one-get-one-free, buy-two-get-one-free, as long as you can sell it, anything goes.

COSTA wages are higher than Starbucks. Another point, COSTA also adjusts salaries!!!

@LT

I like Starbucks but the wages aren't proportional to the effort, so I chose to resign.

@Connieちゃん

Because of coffee... 1,900 RMB salary~ I endured it for five years~

Dreams are distant~ putting down the milk pitcher...

Became a front desk clerk~ salary 4,500

@An'an

As a part-time partner, I still need to defend Starbucks~ My store manager, supervisors, and partners are all angels~ Never force scheduling, very understanding~ My mentor is a super refined boy~ Everyone teaches you step by step, partners are so tolerant you can't imagine~ Selling cards and pastries, everyone understands each other, please don't be too envious, (accidentally laughed out loud~)

@Deng Deng

I want to know if these companies have technical content in making coffee? Always complaining that companies don't have coffee training, have you studied privately? Always complaining about low wages, have you seen how much value you've created? A conscientious barista's heartfelt words.

@Arno tsuji

Although I left Starbucks, during my tenure, fortunately, those who trained me were all capable people, with strictly managing store managers, supervisors who strictly controlled coffee quality, and partners full of coffee skills. Now we've all scattered, but I really miss those busy days and routines, at least it was once perfect.

@Audrey

That first Starbucks comment, I completely agree. Now Starbucks blindly chases data. From when I joined, standing at the Tiu position, the store manager told me I must promote pastries and cards. The most infuriating thing was setting pastry and card targets for Tiu partners. If targets weren't met, they had to buy pastries and cards with their own money... A month of hard-earned wages all went back to Starbucks. What's sad is when some customers feel you keep promoting pastries they don't need, and when partners don't say anything, customers get angry and complain. The reason is that they were promoted. The result is an apology with a sorry voucher. Then the store manager harshly criticizes the complained-about partner... After that, I couldn't take it anymore and resigned. Without even trying to keep me, the store manager sarcastically said that in the future, it would be impossible for me to return to Starbucks. All. Starbucks almost extinguished my passion for coffee.

@Neill

From Luckin Coffee Company... Store manager salary is offered at 8,000 but you can't even get 4,500, not to mention store transfers from regional group managers down to partners, treated like a game. They don't fire you, just transfer you to another district. A 4.5-hour round trip commute, 8 hours daily for less than 5,000 RMB, is it worth it?

@Mr. Jun

Wanting income proportional to effort but being lectured by self-righteous people about aiming high but achieving little? At least use some brains in your comments?

@Archer

That 24-year-old who said it took 10 years to find what he likes is like those 22-year-old girls who say it took 22 years to find love.

@Frank

At Costa, early wages are higher than Starbucks... only Starbucks adjusts salaries, Costa doesn't...

@tom

Barista? I often hear, "Hey waiter, clear this here!" The most ridiculous thing was receiving a complaint: "Is your coffee freshly ground? Freshly ground but you add boiling water? I've really never seen coffee made this way, you're all liars!" Hahaha, have you seen an Americano without water? Or should I give you a portion of ground coffee powder to play with yourself? What pissed me off most was being scolded by the shift manager for poor service attitude? I was smiling and telling that customer, "I'm sorry, this is how classic Americano is made. If you don't like it, I can change it for you." And those who always say there's no one, you as a HR manager not recruiting people is one thing, asking me to help you find people is another, I helped you recruit them, I rapidly develop them and get them promoted, you grab them back to the mother store for training, then tell me there's no one again, you go recruit people again. I'm really going to fuck your dog's bullshit, you deserve to never have anyone to use! —From a senior McDonald's barista.

@Miao Xiao Miao

As a barista... I feel I'm habitually Zen-like... People like me who don't care about wages and rely purely on interest... constantly getting certifications and learning, relying entirely on saving money... are really rare... Once took 10 RMB to buy 7 instant noodles, successfully survived a week.

@Auck

The more I understand Starbucks' coffee knowledge, the more I can't help but want to defend Starbucks. What's more important, money or what you learn? I think all you observers are too one-sided. The reason Starbucks can be so big is because their coffee foundation is deeper than you can imagine. You just haven't met truly capable partners yet.

@Water Bottle

I personally think large coffee chains like Starbucks and Pacific can only be considered beverage shops to some extent. Barista threshold is low, but people rolling in boutique coffee aren't easily achieved (though indeed, regardless of coffee shop type, baristas hold multiple positions - bar, kitchen, desserts, hygiene, moving, service).

@Gary Three Stones

Quite a few people aim high but achieve little, ability = salary.

@

McDonald's has no performance every day! A place that sells chicken, you compete with others in coffee! What do you have to sell? Poor performance every day, you have to go out and DD lick customers' faces to promote? Make your own cakes tastier and better-looking, who would buy them? Are customers all idiots?

@ D.K.yao

To that Luckin person... Store performance data is all in the system. When leaders come to store inspections, it's definitely not for data... You mention employee work situations and operational problems, these issues are basically understood by looking at "hygiene." Besides, brand image is most important, so we're back to "hygiene." Of course, this also includes products, whether they're prepared according to standards, but compared to hygiene items, there are far fewer of these... Other items all have data to rely on, checked online. Any instructions are communicated down to the next level. Finally, only the store manager communicates with you. If the store manager isn't good, congratulations, you can only rely on yourself... Besides, if you want to focus on coffee, don't join these types of brands. Do you think you can reach any level by handling fully automated things? People who only want to make money wouldn't become baristas.

@Floating Life Like a Dream

Simply put, wages are low, and Starbucks likes to brainwash young employees, specifically deceiving recent graduates.

@Jackie

Why no Pacific Coffee, former PCC server passing by.

@Xuanxuanxuanxuanxuan-

Part-time at Starbucks for a year, the store manager really makes me speechless, but I have a very good mentor! Experienced making 10+ caramel Frappuccinos and Chai Cream Frappuccinos, Friday extensive cleaning, monthly cleaning, inventory counts. What I couldn't stand most were all kinds of weird customers! Truly, there's nothing you can't imagine, only what you haven't encountered!!

@Qiu Ruirong - Hangzhou Zhejun

So I'm content to buy beans and brew them at home myself.

@ken_yang

Too many words, all tears.

@Coffee Without Sugar

Seeing those who say Luckin store managers only earn over 3,000, forgive me for laughing, which region's Luckin are you from?

@Vita

Spanning KFC, Costa, Luckin's different regions, management staff entry, also worked as part-time partner.

Low wages are a major pain point. As an adult, if you can't even support yourself with your earnings, it's hard to persist.

To earn more, you have to work hard to get promoted to store manager, but from then on, it's hard to have private time. If you have a store manager who's desperately messaging you at midnight, they're probably also in crisis.

Long hours of standing work damage legs and shoulders/necks; irregular rest days mean you miss friend gatherings; occasional unfriendly individuals or environments; glamorous surface but actually xxxx, still hard to be a proud service worker in your heart. Many complaints, but the simple interactions between partners, every time performance targets are met, the store's achievements, are all worth remembering. And during this time, I developed many good professional habits that I'm still proud of today.

Completely agree with the first Starbucks comment, blindly chasing data, making partners sell cards, food, mooncakes, zongzi, new products. Data is God, impressive!

@dai sister

As someone who worked at McDonald's cleaning sand wells, I finished reading this article with a smile. At least I'm a barista who can pull a swan.

@Mo Hen

In the catering industry, aren't hygiene and food safety the most important? I really don't understand how someone with such resentment towards hygiene works in this industry? If I were your boss, I would have fired you long ago!

@ Light Em Up

First, whether Starbucks, Costa, or KFC are all retail industries, having performance pressure is normal. Can't you just endure a little pressure? Starbucks' base wages are indeed low, but with 10 days paid annual leave annually, commercial insurance, etc., when calculated into wages, it's not lower than an ordinary office worker. To be honest, any normal person can handle the basic positions at these companies. It just depends on what you want. If you think clearly about this, work will be much easier.

@I want Gtr

I wanted to do coffee out of passion and interest, but after joining Starbucks, that enthusiasm and expectation were slowly worn away. Now I just want to submit my resignation application as soon as possible. The wages and benefits are really low, to put it bluntly, it's exploiting labor. One person holds multiple positions, playing various roles, wherever needed, you have to fill in. When busy, partners' rest time completely disappears. Every day just thinking about data, without considering partners' feelings.

@Qing, Huan

I have a good store manager and a group of harmonious partners.

@My Bread Half for You

I don't agree with that brother downstairs. Companies need to pursue performance. As a shift supervisor who resigned two years ago, selling cups, mooncakes, zongzi, when targets were met, getting an extra 200+ RMB in monthly bonuses - for what? For love and responsibility? When I joined, shifts took home 5,000 monthly (large store, good business). When I was promoted to shift supervisor, I took home around 4,200 monthly, after all, our store was in a school, use your imagination. Our store manager was very nice, students, teachers, and foreign teachers were all high quality, but I still left, one after another. After all, this job isn't long-term. Said goodbye to that pitiful bonus.

@DONI

What real baristas exist in chain stores these days? It's all standardized processes, machines are all automatic. Just know the process and how to operate. The rest is of course cleaning and chasing data! Mature companies all play this way. They play with processes and management levels, not with coffee, okay~_~.

@My name is Sun

How should I put it, no matter the company, unit, or position, if you do your job and your responsibilities well, someone will naturally notice you. I always believe one sentence: gold will always shine. Why complain about this and that? If you have time to complain, it's better to think about your own problems. You deserve to remain a service worker...

For those striving out there, don't forget your original intention, just don't lose your direction, keep going.

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