- Starbucks corporate staff have been ordered back to the office three days a week from January 31.
- Howard Schultz said staff had failed to start coming in at least once a week.
- He "pleaded" with workers to return to the office last year, saying he'd "get on my knees."
Howard Schultz has ordered corporate staff to come into its offices three days a week from January 31.
The CEO said in a memo on Wednesday that workers in commuting distance of its Seattle headquarters must make the trip at least three days a week. Those days must include Tuesday and Wednesday, with the third day to be decided by their teams.
Staff located near regional offices have also been ordered to go in three days a week under similar conditions.
Starbucks allowed staff to work remotely since the start of the pandemic, but its attempts to get many back in one or two days a week had failed, according to Schultz's memo.
"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 wrote.
Schultz pointed out that Starbucks baristas didn't have the "privilege" of working from home.
Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Schultz had been chief executive from 1986 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2017. He returned for a third stint as CEO in April 2022, after Kevin Johnson stepped down.
He told The New York Times' DealBook event in June that getting workers to return to the office had been a difficult task.
"I have been unsuccessful, despite everything I've tried to do, to get our people back to work," Schultz said. "I've pleaded with them. I said I'll get on my knees. I'll do push-ups. Whatever you want. Come back."
Schultz admitted he was "old-school," and was used to regularly being in the office from 7 a.m. till 7 p.m.
Starbucks joins a growing number of companies ordering employees to return to the office for some of the week.
Elon Musk ended remote work at Twitter shortly after his takeover in October, while Disney's CEO Bob Iger said staff should be in the office four days a week because "nothing can replace" in-person work.