Starbucks CEO mandates corporate employees return to the office at least three days a week

Schultz said prior efforts that asked employees to work 1-2 days in the office have failed

Starbucks is joining a long list of corporate employers seeking to end remote work-from-home options for employees, according to a memo released this week. 

The coffee giant's CEO, Howard Schultz, released a memo on Wednesday stating that corporate employees would return to the office at least three days a week starting on Jan. 31, 2023. 

Schultz writes in the memo that workers traveling to the company's corporate headquarters in Seattle must appear in the office at least three days a week, including Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with individual teams having permission to determine the third day. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, Starbucks corporate staff have been allowed to work remotely from home. Schultz notes in the memo that attempts to encourage employees to come in one or two days a week have failed. 

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Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is mandating that corporate employees return to the office at least three days a week, according to a memo released on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa / AP Newsroom)

"Partners, it’s time for us to come back to the office—to do this Mission-critical work face-to-face, and in person," Schultz wrote. "It’s time we rebuild and revive the energy of the SSC and our regional offices as thriving, active hubs."

"From our badging data, it's clear that a good number of SSC [Starbucks Support Centre] partners are not meeting their minimum promise of one day a week," he added. 

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Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FOX Business. 

Schultz is in his third term as the chief executive of Starbucks. He occupied the role between 1986 and 2008 and returned from 2008 until 2017. He was hired again as CEO after Kevin Johnson resigned in April 2022.

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