Starbucks plans to significantly boost racial diversity among its workforce — and it's making that goal a factor in the pay of its senior executives.
By 2025, the Seattle coffee giant wants people of color represented in at least 30% of roles in corporate operations and 40% of retail and manufacturing roles, CEO Kevin Johnson told employees Wednesday. The goals, part of an ongoing effort to encourage diversity, reflect the company's obligation "to build bridges and create environments where all are welcome," Johnson said.
Starting in 2021, the compensation of Johnson and 42 other senior executives will be tied to the company's success at meeting those goals, although the company declined to offer details.
However, the company did share how far it must go to reach those goals.
Currently, 18.5% of its 43 top executives — senior vice-presidents and higher — are people of color, the company said. In its retail operations, people of color make up 23.5% of regional vice presidents, 27.1% of regional directors, and 34.9% of store managers.
By contrast, Starbucks has already reached its diversity goals in several categories. These include vice presidents (31.6% of whom are people of color) shift supervisors (44.3%) and baristas (48.5%).
Starbucks' willingness to publicly state its goals is laudable, said Ines Jurcevic, an assistant professor at the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and an expert in diversity management. Research has shown "making those goals public is necessary for being able to achieve them," Jurcevic said.
She also commended the company for publishing its current diversity numbers "because we don't know where [a company's] challenges are if we don't know what representation looks like to begin with."
