Starbucks to Offer $300 Quarterly Bonuses to Baristas and Shift Supervisors Amid Turnaround Push

On Thursday, US-based coffee chain Starbucks announced that it'll begin awarding $300 bonuses to baristas and shift supervisors quarterly should they meet certain targets, CNBC reports. 

This new quarterly bonus program will begin in July, with the first payouts in the fall of 2026. They'll be awarded to employees who meet or exceed specific sales, operational, and customer service metrics, per Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams and Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly. 

How this Program Will Interact With Unions

That said, should there be baristas at a store that Starbucks Workers United represents, they won't be eligible for the bonus until the union reaches a collective bargaining agreement. 

“This new program, at the approximately 5% of U.S. locations where partners have a union, will be subject to collective bargaining as required by federal law,” Grams and Kelly said in the memo.

There have been negotiations between Starbucks and the union in the past, but they haven't gone anywhere in about a year. In March, Starbucks proposed resuming in-person bargaining. Now, talks are set to begin this month. 

Turnaround Efforts and More Change

The reason for this program is to "aid the coffee chain's turnaround efforts, per CNBC. 

This has been an initiative under CEO Brian Niccol, who wants to get "back to Starbucks," which includes better customer service, such as cozier cafes and baristas writing on cups. 

Of course, a big part of that will be getting baristas to buy in. Niccol has made efforts to improve staffing, including adding assistant managers starting this year. 

Niccol also said that customers will have more ways to tip now, including in the app, and that the app will also ask people who scan it at the register when they pay. 

With these changes, baristas' pay could rise by up to 8%, per the company. 

Another change being made is that Starbucks employees will be paid weekly rather than biweekly. 

So far, Niccol's vision seems to be working, as CNBC reports that Starbucks said there was traffic growth last quarter for the first time in two years.