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The largest coffee chain in the world, Starbucks, has close to 400,000 employees.
Research shows that most Starbucks employees are content with their work-life balance and do not experience burnout.
One barista, who is a full-time student as well, however, became well-known after she posted an emotional video criticising management.
They reportedly had a 25-hour work week that included weekend shifts of 8 hours.
In addition to the management’s treatment, they said that it has left them feeling “at their wit’s end” and that they are finding it difficult to cope.
In the video, which is now circulating on Twitter, the barista says: “I’m a full-time student, I get scheduled for 25 hours a week.
“And then on weekends, they scheduled me the entire day, open to close, that one’s scheduled for eight and half hours, both Saturday and Sunday.
“I’m three and a half hours into my shift.
“There’s so many customers and we have four people on the floor all day. Only five people were put on schedule and somebody had to call out.”
They go on to claim that the managers ‘don’t care about us’ and ‘don’t want to help us’.
Elsewhere in the clip, the student says customers are rude and often misgender them.
They add: “I don’t get accommodation for being neurodivergent, people get mad at me for having too much sick time.
“I don’t even know what to do anymore, I’m at my wits end with this job.”
The video has been shared by far-right Trump supporter Sebastian Gorka on Twitter, who mockingly tweeted: “Trans Barrister has meltdown because 8 hours is too long to work on a day…”
“Oh cry me a river. I drove a truck for 35 years. 12-14 hours a day,” one person comments. “Sometimes gone for a month at a time.
“Suck it up buttercup.”
A second says: “My husband normally works 70 hours a week and was it hard, yes but he still did it.
“This kid needs to learn what hard work is otherwise they won’t be able to make it.”
However, many have taken to the comments and defended the barista, arguing that it would be difficult to do an eight-hour shift alongside educational studies.
One writes: “He’s allowed to be frustrated at Starbucks and his crappy manager not pulling their weight.
“People keep bringing up his eight-hour shifts but working a job on top of being a full-time student would be tiring. He’s having a vent, so what?”
Defending the student against the haters, another says: “Wow, you are so brave for bullying a young service worker.
“A full-time college student is expected to do 2-3 hours of homework per every class hour.
“So if this kiddo is in class 15 hours a week, has 30 hours of homework, and then 25 hours of work that is a 70-hour week.”
