Starbucks To Implement Increased Pay, More Effective Training

(RTTNews) - Starbucks (SBUX) has announced that it will increase its investment in partners and stores bringing its total commitment for the year to $1 billion.

Interim CEO Howard Schultz announced the company will make additional investments in partners and stores for prioritized areas such as increased pay, modernized training and collaboration, store innovation, and the celebration of coffee, bringing the total investments to nearly $1 billion in this fiscal year alone.

Schultz shared, "What you will see is the transformation of the Starbucks customer and partner experiences. The transformation will accelerate already record demand in our stores. But the investments will enable us to handle the increased demand - and deliver increased profitability - while also delivering an elevated experience to our customers and reducing strain on our partners. And we will reintroduce joy and connection back into the partner experience."

Effective August 1, all U.S. employees, otherwise known as partners, will get a base pay of $15 an hour. The average hourly pay at Starbucks, though, will be nearly $17 nationwide. Employees that were hired on or before May 2 will get a 3% raise or be bumped up to $15 an hour, whichever is higher, according to Starbucks.

The companys also said it will also add incremental pay increases which will "apply to all partners, while recognizing and rewarding tenure."

Partners with 2-5 years of service will receive at least a 5% increase or move to 5% above the market start rate, whichever is higher. Partners with 5+ years of service will receive at least a 7% increase or move to 10% above the market start rate, whichever is higher.

The coffee retailer will also increase training time for all employees. New baristas will get double the training time, with more hands-on practice, starting June 21. New shift supervisors will get double the training time beginning August 30.