Starbucks has found that removing human labor in favor of machines doesn’t work for the company \u2014 so now the coffee chain is hiring old-fashioned human baristas<\/a> at thousands of stores.<\/p>\n Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol<\/a> stated in a call with investors earlier this week that the company’s effort to reduce headcount over the past few years and replace humans with machines had backfired: Advanced machinery proved to be an inadequate substitute for human labor.<\/p>\n “Over the last couple of years, we’ve actually been removing labor from the stores, I think with the hope that equipment could offset the removal of the labor,” Niccol said on the call, per The Guardian<\/i><\/a>. “What we’re finding is that wasn’t an accurate assumption with what played out.”<\/p>\n By the time Niccol joined<\/a> Starbucks in September 2024, the company had been testing out human staff increases at just a handful of locations. Niccol broadened the effort this year to include 3,000 locations of the coffee chain’s 40,000 stores<\/a> globally.<\/p>\n Related:<\/b> ‘We’re Not Effective’: Starbucks CEO Tells Corporate Employees to ‘Own Whether or Not This Place Grows’<\/a><\/p>\n Niccol stated that new technology alone doesn’t cut it. Starbucks needed to adequately staff stores and allow employees access to new equipment to deliver a better customer experience.<\/p>\n “Equipment doesn’t solve the customer experience that we need to provide, but rather staffing the stores and deploying with this technology behind it does,” Niccol said on the call.<\/p>\n Niccol noted that increasing staff would entail higher costs but asserted that “some growth” for the company would accompany the move.<\/p>\n The move to hire new baristas is part of Niccol’s plan to turn Starbucks around after five consecutive<\/a> quarters<\/a> of declining sales. Starbucks reported<\/a> on Tuesday that same-store sales dropped 1% in the first quarter of 2025, falling short of Wall Street expectations.<\/p>\n Related:<\/b> It’s Pay-to-Stay at Starbucks As the Coffeehouse Reverses Its Open Door Policy<\/a><\/p>\n Niccol reassured<\/a> investors on the call that though the financial results proved “disappointing,” Starbucks was “really showing a lot of signs of progress” internally. For example, the average time to deliver in-store orders had declined by an average of two minutes during the quarter, he said.<\/p>\n Niccol’s plan to turn around Starbucks includes limiting the number of items<\/a> customers can order through mobile, adding ceramic mugs<\/a> for in-store orders, cutting 30% of the menu<\/a>, writing customers’ names<\/a> down with Sharpies on their cups, and asking baristas to make orders in under four minutes<\/a>. Starting May 12, Starbucks will also require baristas to dress uniformly<\/a> in a solid black top and khaki, black, or blue denim bottoms.<\/p>\n Starbucks operates 16,941 stores<\/a> in the U.S. and has 211,000 U.S. employees<\/a>. The company’s stock<\/a> was down about 11% year-to-date at the time of writing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.entrepreneur.com\/images\/misc\/1746130372_Brian-Niccol-GettyImages-1032227392.jpg?width=1000\")
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. Photo by Kevin Sullivan\/Digital First Media\/Orange County Register via Getty Images<\/i><\/sup><\/p>\n