Starbucks closing announcements are monthly?

[Odello]

I was reading Howard Schultz's message to his employees on Starbucks website. I was astonished after reading:

Each month, after a 30-day closing notice has been communicated to all affected partners, we will post a list of the stores that are scheduled to close.

I am putting myself in a Starbucks employee's shoes. Everyday from now on, I wake up and ask myself whether an envelope from Seattle has been delivered to the coffee shop in which I work.
I mean: they decided which stores to close but are communicating just 30 days before? And month by month?
It sounds to me horrible. In Italy labor unions are too strong and if you have a company you really cannot fire anybody until s/he dies... But it seems to me that treating people like that does not help the economy to recover. How can you think you can motivate people if they know you are ready to abandon them?

[CakeBoy]

Some people are only in coffee for profit and I find this is often reflected in the quality of the drinks they are propared to serve for what is usually not an insubstantial sum of money. I guess it says a lot about social conscience and how much firms really care for their employees.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the way business works but this type of news highlights for me how some firms are less responsible with risk taking than others, pushing things to the limit during the good times to maximise profit. I feel sorry for people being laid-off at short notice. The word cannonfodder comes to mind.

[Gouezeri]

Thing is, if you actually care about your job as a barista, is this kind of environment going to entice you to stay, or to find an independent which actually gives a damn about what it serves?

[Bertie_Doe]

I suppose there's a pos and neg to every story. The decision to close 600 branches of Starbucks is a bitter pill for Shultz to swallow, riding on the back of his 'big expansion' plans of only 3 years ago.

600 out of a total of 30,000 represents 1 branch in 50. If for example, a supermarket chain with 100 branches were to close 2, perhaps sacking 200 staff, it wouldn't have the same news impact as SB's 600.

The fast majority of these 600 closures are in the States. Most of the target closures, are the smaller 'drive-thru' outlets, were sharp fuel price increases, have impacted sales. Ok Shultz is no saint, but if these closures, help the remaining 29,400 branches to remain viable ; that's a hell of a lot of people in employment.

We know Starbucks buy good beans, which suggests he has to pay above fairtrade for his supplies. The coffee farmers may not be happy bunnies, but they would appreciate it, if SB's stay in business, for the foreseeable future. 29,000+ branches must get through one heck of a lot of equipment. I don't know where they source their espresso machines and grinders from, but I bet it's not Timbuckforkingtwo.

Bertie