The senators who grilled Howard Schultz on Wednesday had clearly done their homework, citing fact after fact to justify their characterization of the former Starbucks chief as a union-buster. But Schultz had come prepared with ample ammunition of his own, refuting the assertions with tidbits that few outside the coffee chain might know. Here’s a sampling.
Starbucks’ true compensation levels
The current average wage of a Starbucks barista is $17.50, Schultz revealed. He noted that the rate is higher than the minimum wages of all 50 states.
And that’s just the cash part of their compensation, the former CEO added. With benefits included, “the value approaches $27 an hour,” Schultz said.
He also disclosed that Starbucks had spent $1.4 billion over the last year on “employee-facing benefits.”
What about managers?
“All in, the average manager’s salary is about $80,000,” Schultz said. He also noted that 65% of managers were formerly baristas.
And the results?
“Employee retention at Starbucks is twice the industry average,” said Schultz. “Let me repeat that: Employee retention at Starbucks is twice the industry average.”
Read more about Schultz's Senate hearing here.
So what has Schultz been doing?
About 95% of his one year as interim CEO was focused on improving operations, including in-store efficiencies, he revealed. A reset was necessary because the company’s policies and values were in danger of being watered down by Wall Street, Schultz added. He speculated that investors were less than pleased when his first move as acting chief was halting stock buybacks.
Schultz surrendered his CEO duties last week to a hand-picked successor, Laxman Narasimhan, but remains on Starbucks’ board.
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