Despite sinking millions into a new headquarters, the Starbucks company is reportedly having a hard time convincing some employees to make the move.
Starbucks Corp. is reportedly spending $100 million on a new corporate office in Nashville, TN, but it seems staff are reluctant to leave the current headquarters in left-leaning Seattle for a move to deep-red Tennessee.
“Starbucks’ initial efforts to relocate staff have been challenging, with not many accepting the move, according to people who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly,” Bloomberg reported. “In March, the coffee chain presented its roughly 100-member North America sourcing team with the choice of moving to Tennessee — and taking a pay cut — or losing their jobs, the people said.”
(Video Credit: Fox 13)
“Since announcing that those operations would move to Nashville, the company has dangled stock grants for some workers to entice them to relocate. For the undecided, it’s also offering more time and reimbursement of as much as $2,000 for travel costs to explore the city, according to the people,” Bloomberg reported.
The coffee chain has asserted that it is not abandoning its Washington-state birthplace, where it was founded in 1971, but it will be enjoying significantly lower taxes and labor costs in Nashville. However, with its long history of supporting progressive issues, such as diversity and LGBTQ+ policies, Starbucks’s effort to get employees to relocate to a Republican-led state has rattled many.
“Some Seattle-based staffers are reluctant to uproot their families and have voiced concern about moving to a conservative state from left-leaning Seattle,” Bloomberg noted.
“The company offered stock grants worth tens of thousands of dollars to some workers to make the move more appealing, but also told them they’d have to take pay cuts of at least 5%, citing Nashville’s lower cost of living, according to people familiar with the matter,” the outlet added.
“When the company says Seattle is still the headquarters, people are just rolling their eyes,” a senior Starbucks executive said.
Starbucks employees seem upset that business are leaving hostile states and moving to business friendly states with lower taxes.
Maybe they should… pic.twitter.com/kN1inUwz4I
— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) April 23, 2026
The new office in Nashville will provide 2,000 jobs and provide “proximity to key suppliers, access to a deep and growing talent pool in the region, notably in technology, and alignment with where we expect future coffeehouse growth,” Sara Kelly, Starbucks chief partner officer, said in a news release.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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