Starbucks shift differential

Starbucks is decidedly busier during morning hours versus night hours. There is little argument there. However, the dichotomy in transactions is staggering. In fact, a store’s daily sales metric is predicated upon mornings being so much busier than nights, that the terminology to describe the four consecutive highest transactions per half hour are colloquially referred to as “peak”. Of course any business in the sales and retail industry has variances in the influx of customers, but Starbucks stores experience such a marked difference that daily sales are often two to three times higher before noon than the remainder of the day. Given that the exponential increase in sales and transactions obviously translates to a monumental increase in workload, it is only reasonable and fair that the am shift employees earn more pay per hour.

Moreover, this issue extends to the weekend, wherein Friday, Saturday and Sunday shifts take a toll on employees’ mental health as they struggle to maintain Starbucks standards amidst an environment reminiscent of Dante’s inferno. As the retail industry faces its highest rate of attrition in recent memory, attracting and retaining top talent should be of paramount importance. Therefore, a shift differential for mornings and weekends should be immediately implemented as a means to incentivize current and prospective employees.