Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has said that many of its employees would now be required to work from the office for four days a week, from the current structure of three days as part of a new policy which is expected to be implemented later this year. The company has said that those who want to continue with the remote work may opt for a one-time voluntary exit program with a cash payment. The new policy, which is expected to begin with the start of the new financial year, would require Starbucks employees to be in the office from Monday to Thursday. The company has said that it’ll share a detailed plan before October in order to ensure that every employee has an assigned dedicated desk. The directive by Starbucks is in line with a series of companies pushing to restrict remote work culture which gained popularity and expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The staff members of Starbucks, who choose not to opt for the work from office policy for four days, will be offered a one-time payment option if they decide to resign. The changes in work policy would be applicable to US’ Seattle and Canada’s Toronto support centers as well as regional offices in North America. In a blogpost, Starbucks chief Niccol who became the CEO less than a year ago said the policy change would help the coffee giant do its "best work" as it faces falling sales and other challenges. “We understand not everyone will agree with this approach. We've listened and thought carefully. But as a company built on human connection, and given the scale of the turnaround ahead, we believe this is the right path for Starbucks,” Niccol said in the post. Starbucks, in February, had asked the remotely working vice president level leadership to begin relocating to Seattle or Toronto.
