Good news from Starbucks again! The wages of Starbucks partners are going to rise again?!

On May 3, local time, Starbucks released its second-quarter financial results. The financial report is the first quarterly report since "Star Dad" Howard Schultz returned to the helm of Starbucks. At the same time, there was news of salary increases for Starbucks partners.

According to Starbucks' report for the second quarter of 2022, Starbucks stores in North America and the United States beat expectations, comparable sales rose 12%, customer purchases increased, and average customer unit prices also increased.

In China, Starbucks' second-largest market after the United States, net income fell 14% in the second quarter, same-store transaction volume fell 20%, and average customer unit prices fell 4%. Even so, Starbucks does not change its goal of opening 6000 stores in China by the end of 2022.

Good news has come from Starbucks' North American market, but there has been a lot of moths in the past six months. In China, the eviction of the police and food hygiene and safety incidents have led some consumers to say that they have taken off the powder; in the United States, the unionization movement has made intense progress because of the inadequate welfare of its partner employees.

Some US media even exposed a scene on April 22nd, in which Howard Schultz, the "star father", said in a video conference with Starbucks executives that the union was an "external force" (outside force) that disturbed Starbucks. Interestingly, some of what Howard calls "external forces" are partners in Starbucks stores.

A month after Howard Schultz returned as chief executive of Starbucks, Starbucks announced new benefits in an effort to curb the promotion of union activities at Starbucks. In fiscal year 2022, Starbucks will raise employees' salaries, provide double training for new employees and invest $1 billion in store operations.

The new round of pay increases are only for lifetime employees. Employees who have worked at Starbucks for two to five years will receive a 5 per cent raise, or 5 per cent higher than the market starting salary, whichever is higher. Employees with more than five years of service will receive a 7% raise, or 10% higher than the market starting salary, which is also subject to a higher starting salary.

Starbucks also said it would double its investment in the compensation of store managers, assistant managers and duty managers from Monday. The change amounts to an one-off adjustment in base pay, while employees can still get the raise planned for fiscal year 2023 this fall.

However, the coffee giant will not offer higher benefits to Starbucks stores that voted to unionize. Starbucks said unionized stores had to negotiate in exchange for the changes.

In terms of store operations, Starbucks will launch credit or debit card tipping services by the end of 2022, and plans to improve store equipment and technology, such as upgrades to iPad and coffee-related equipment in stores.

Howard Schultz immediately launched a massive and costly anti-union campaign against the unions. Since his return in early April, Starbucks shares have fallen from $88.09 on April 4 to $74.33 on May 4. It can be seen that Howard Schultz does not have the support of Wall Street.

Starbucks u.s. shares rose 3% in after-hours trading after Starbucks reported results for the second quarter of 2022.

Even if Starbucks' second-quarter net income in china fell 14%, this was strongly offset by strong net income growth in north America, allowing Starbucks' earnings to meet expectations.

Competition in China's coffee market is fierce, Starbucks is no longer a dominant company, lucky financial fraud is a thing of the past, the reborn Luckin Coffee has become the largest coffee chain brand in China. Can Starbucks' plan to open 6000 stores in China be completed?

Photo Source: Internet

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