Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol was promised the ability to work remotely when brought in from Chipotle. Company employees won't have the same luxury in 2026.

Corporate employees are required to be at the office four days a week, while some remote staff have been instructed to relocate.

Starbucks has updated its remote work policy, requiring all corporate \"people leaders\" to be based in Seattle or Toronto within 12 months and increasi

Starbucks is making a big push to bring its office workers back together, and the message from the top is clear: more face time is the new normal. In a recent update, CEO Brian Niccol outlined a shift in company policy that will see support partners and people managers spending at least four days a week in the office, up from the previous three.

Starbucks is asking its corporate staff to follow a new corporate policy or accept a cash payment to leave the company. It's all part of a massive plan to ‘turn the business around.’

That change is expected to being within the new fiscal year which kicks off on October 1. As for those in a remote work setting, that will also be coming to an end. In February the company asked all "vp+ leaders" to begin relocating to Seattle or Toronto and will be extending that requirement to all support center leaders.

Starbucks looks to be the latest company to be ramping up the pressure on employees to be back in the office. On Monday, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol sent a memo to staff announcing that the company was upping the required number of days in the office from three to four.