Starbucks is requiring some remote workers to return to its headquarters and increasing the number of days that corporate employees are required to work in an office.
In a letter to employees this week, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said corporate employees would need to be in the office four days a week starting in early October instead of three days a week.
The Seattle-based company said that all corporate “people leaders” must be based in either Seattle or Toronto within 12 months. That is a change from February, when it required vice presidents to relocate to Seattle or Toronto.
Starbucks said individual employees working under those leaders would not be asked to relocate, but the company said all hiring for future roles and lateral moves will require employees to be based in Seattle or Toronto.
“We are reestablishing our in-office culture because we do our best work when we’re together. We share ideas more effectively, creatively solve hard problems, and move much faster,” Niccol wrote in the letter.
Niccol said affected workers who choose not to relocate will be eligible for a one-time voluntary exit program with a cash payment.
Starbucks spokeswoman Lori Torgerson said she didn’t have a count of employees who are currently working as “people leaders” or are working remotely. Starbucks has 16,000 corporate support employees worldwide, but that includes coffee roasters and warehouse staff.