Unethical? Starbucks CEO’s “SuperCommute” 1,000 Miles 3 Days Weekly
Starbucks has appointed a new CEO that pledges to “SuperCommute” 1,000 miles for three days weekly in the office. Is this unethical?
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Starbucks CEO’s Private Jet SuperCommute
Brian Niccol left Chipotle to run Starbucks this week and mentioned that he will be SuperCommuting the 1,000 mile journey from his California home three days weekly to the coffee chain’s Seattle headquarters.
“In Starbucks’ offer letter to Niccol, the company said: “During your employment with the company, you will not be required to relocate to the company’s headquarters… You agree to commute from your residence to the company’s headquarters (and engage in other business travel) as is required to perform your duties and responsibilities.”
The document also states that he will be eligible to use the company’s aircraft for “business related travel” and for “travel between [his] city of residence and the company’s headquarters.”
A Starbucks spokesperson clarified to CNBC that its new chief will still be expected to work from Starbucks’ Seattle office at least three days a week, in line with the company’s hybrid work policies. – Yahoo! Finance
The two-hour private jet flight from California to Seattle and back is not intended to be daily for three days each week but rather one roundtrip weekly but it could be as business requires.
The executive also SuperCommuted to Chipotle headquarters as he ran that company. Starbucks stock was initially up 25% on news of Niccol’s appointment.
Is It Ethical To Fly Private This Much?
Even for a travel blog with a history of mileage running, this seems excessive. It’s excessive for a few reasons but chiefly among them, running Starbucks should be worth relocating if even for a few years’ duration. Writing it into the contract, no doubt his stipulation and not theirs, is a pretty big ask and gives the sense that perhaps one foot is in and one is out of Starbucks.
Social media was not kind on Niccol’s decision:
Starbucks CEO has decided to travel on a private jet for work instead of relocating.
Meanwhile, we are supposed to save the environment and have our coffee with a paper straw that gets soggy in minutes.
— Parth MN (@parthpunter) August 22, 2024
NPR reported the new @Starbucks CEO will commute from his So. Cal home to Seattle & back on the corporate jet three times a week. What a bunch of performative hypocrites with their enviro friendly branding. No company who truly cares about the climate would agree to this.
— Chickie (@ChickieBayB) August 21, 2024
“Ben Alalouff, chief strategy officer at the marketing agency Live & Breathe, thinks that while the public backlash will blow in a matter of days, Starbucks workers won’t forget the news so quickly.
“If I was a Starbucks employee at corporate and I heard that a huge amount of costs every month is being used [to fuel a private jet] rather than investing into the workforce or investing into benefits or bonuses or whatever it may be, I’d be pretty pissed off,” he told Fortune.
Elon Musk Justified?
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, famously SuperCommuted between SpaceX and Tesla headquarters in San Francisco and Los Angeles as CEO of both firms. He is also CEO of The Boring Company, Neuralink, and was a significant board member and investor in Solar City.
While the distances may be shorter, does this not beg for the same situation. Musk is trying to save the planet through electric vehicles and colonize new ones with SpaceX, yet he’s burning tons of carbon on his private jet to move back and forth between offices he chose to locate in different cities.
The one difference here is that Musk was flying between the cities of companies he was managing. Niccol is doing so to keep his home and current life in California. Musk’s trips seemed necessary to perform business functions while Niccol’s purpose is both to satisfy the bare minimum for office attendance requirements without changing his home life.
Conclusion
The culture of Starbucks is probably less understanding of Niccol’s SuperCommute than other companies. The progressive coffee business leans into reducing waste and being environmentally conscious and it would seem to me that his commute is the antithesis of the company’s ethos. Further, SuperCommuting solely to satisfy a three-day in office work week is also going to rub some the wrong way. Is it unethical? I’m not sure I can judge that, but is it wise – on that I am confident it is not.
What do you think?
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