With its headquarters in Seattle, Washington in the United States of America, Starbucks which is an American company is the largest coffeehouse chain in the world. As of today, Starbucks operates over 32,000 stores in over 83 countries all around the globe. Out of these, 16,637 are company-operated and 16,023 are licensed stores. Let’s know about Starbucks Employee Discount.
As of 2020, they employed 349,000 people. They look to hire from all communities and have hired 25,000 military spouses and veterans up till now. In addition, they look forward to hiring 5,000 more every year.
Starbucks believes that their employees are partners in shared success, therefore, they call them partners. Starbucks has repeatedly been ranked on the annual list by Fortune of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.
Employee discount is one of the numerous benefits that employees at Starbucks enjoy. These benefits are enjoyed by part-time workers as well. The employee discount offered to them is 30% off on all drinks when the employee is not on duty. In addition, to the drinks, the discount is also on all retail merchandise. These discounts can be availed at any Starbucks location.
Employees also receive free bags of coffee or a dozen k-cups every week. Besides the aforementioned, on each of their shifts, employees get to have up to four drinks and a free food item.
Starbucks Employee Benefits
Apart from the employee discount, there are many other benefits offered to the employees at Starbucks.
If an employee opts for one of their health plans, Starbucks shares the costs of health benefits for the employees and their families. Any Employee who completes 20 hours per week and has been an employee for at least 90 days is deemed eligible.
Employees who have worked for at least 20 hours per week are eligible to get 100% paid maternity leave for 6 weeks. This paid leave is also extended for foster parents as well as adoptions. If the employee works at the corporate office of Starbucks, they receive 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.
Another benefit offered to part-time and full-time employees who work at standalone Starbucks locations is free tuition to Arizona State University via their bachelor’s degree program of 4 years. They reimburse tuition costs that are not directly covered by need-based financial aid in the paycheck near the semester end. This benefit does not cover the cost of the fees of any special courses or books.
Starbucks History
The first Starbucks store was opened by Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegel in Seattle on 31st March 1971. They were inspired to sell coffee beans of high quality and equipment. They named it ‘Starbucks’ after Starbuck- the first mate in the classic novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
Starbucks had opened four stores in Seattle by the early 1980s. In the year 1980, Zev Siegl wished to pursue other interests and left. Jerry Baldwin assumed the role to become the company’s president.
Starbucks stood out from its competitors because of its top-quality fresh-roasted coffees.
Howard Schultz who was a sales representative for a Swedish company that supplied equipment to Starbucks in 1981 decided to pay a visit. Impressed, he became the head of marketing in 1982. He worked with store employees to ease customers who were visiting the store for the very first time and did not have detailed knowledge of fine coffee by developing customer-friendly sale skills.
In 1983, he visited Italy and discovered coffeehouses and cafes. He envisioned the same for Starbucks but the founders were not enthusiastic as they did not want it to deviate from the traditional model.
Schultz left Starbucks in 1985 and started Il Giornale, which was an immediate success.
The founders sold Starbucks in 1987 to Il Giornale. Under this leadership, the chain grew from a mere 20 stores to 100 stores in less than 4 years. In 1996, it started opening stores outside North America and had 2,500 stores in over a dozen countries.
Schultz stepped down in 2000 as CEO only to return in 2008.
He finally stepped down in 2017 to be succeeded by Kevin Johnson.
Conclusion
Starbucks stores all over the world have revolutionized coffee culture amongst people. It adapts to the location of the store and understands what the local public wants. Starbucks meets the foreign public’s desire for western experiences. It built a business worth more than $10 billion in less than 40 years. Starbucks stores are not just a coffee place but the nation’s second living room, study hall, and meeting place.
FAQs
- Which city in the world has the greatest number of Starbucks stores?
Ans: Seoul in South Korea has 284 Starbucks stores, making it the city having more Starbucks than in any other city. New York ranks second, with 277 stores and finally third is Shanghai with 256 stores.
