There have been a number of reports from Starbucks employees stating that their hours are being dramatically reduced. One worker said these hourly cuts are “not normal” and that he has never seen such a significant reduction in workers’ schedules in the three or so years that he’s worked there.
And now, a recent post by a TikToker named Meghin (@sbwubarista), shows just how extreme hourly reductions are for some employees.
@sbwubarista How am i suppose to pay rent with 4 hours?? #starbucks #starbucksbarista #hourcuts ♬ Your joking – n0ggernUtter
Meghin posts a video showing off a weekly schedule that only gives them four hours for the next seven days.
“You’re joking, you’re joking,” a TikTok sound plays in the background as they zoom into the scheduling blocks.
A text overlay in the clip reads, “Who else is getting scheduled less than 5 hours??” In the caption, they add, “how am I suppose to pay rent with 4 hours??”
TikTok isn’t the only place online where Starbucks employees are complaining about not being scheduled for enough time in-store. One Redditor asked other members of the r/starbucks subreddit if they, too, were having their on-the-clock times mitigated.
“I started starbucks in june, averaging 20 hours a week sometimes more,” they wrote. “I’ve been hearing that corporate has been trying to crack down on labor costs as much as possible around my area, even though every location is suffering of a lack of employees per shift. I work only 8 hours a week now and half of our store is averaging the same.”
They continued, “My store is third most busy in our district and we made 10k by 2pm on a Sunday with only 4 people on the floor (no call offs) and corporate still says we need to cut labor costs even more.”
Judging from other TikTokers who saw Meghin’s post, it would seem that there are more than a few people who have this problem, but there are also others who’ve expressed that they’ve been scheduled more hours than they would like.
“I have the opposite problem. I’m on the schedule for 10 hours extra then I want,” one TikToker penned. Another wrote, “I used to work at Starbucks & Literally nobody would get hours unless you’re a shift leader.”
Someone else said their on-the-books shift routine is officially put down for a lighter workload, however, they are constantly being called in to cover more shifts.
“Schedule me once a week for 4 hours n begs me to come in everyday the rest of the week,” a user shared.
This appears to be an issue others have had as well, as another TikToker shared, “me when i get scheduled 8 hours and then they ask me to pick up 483337 shifts extremely last minute instead of actually scheduling me.”
One viewer who responded to Meghin’s video thought that their reduced hours were a sign that they were being silently terminated, writing, “Same happened to me. At first i did think it was silent firing, but when i put my two weeks in, the manager (now ex manager) said wait wait hold up.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Meghin via TikTok comment and Starbucks via email.
