Beginning March 2025, Starbucks is “more than doubling” paid parental leave for its U.S. store employees in a move it said will make the coffee chain “the unrivaled best job in retail,” according to a company letter to employees. Birth parent employees who work an average of 20 hours a week or more will receive up to 18 weeks of fully paid leave, and non-birth parents will receive up to 12 weeks of leave at full pay, CEO Brian Niccol wrote.

Niccol also wrote that “no other retailer offers a better parental leave benefit for new parents. Our benefit was already the best in retail, but after hearing from some partners who shared the leave as new parents wasn’t adequate, we reviewed the program and have decided we’re making a change.”

Starbucks also highlighted its other revised or current employee benefits, including a “goal to fill 90% of retail leadership roles internally, creating a way for our hourly partners to build a career at Starbucks.” Starbucks also covers 100% of tuition for an online degree through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan (SCAP), gives employees a “Bean Stock” grant for an ownership stake in Starbucks, and offers health benefits for part-time workers.

In October, Starbucks “unexpectedly released its preliminary earnings report … revealing sales fell—sharply—for the third consecutive quarter. Global sales slumped 7%, fueled by a decline of 6% in the United States and even more in China, where comparable sales crumbled 14% for the quarter ending on September 29,” reported CNN.

As a result, Starbucks took the step of suspending its financial guidance for the rest of the year. New CEO Brian Niccol was blunt in his assessment, writing that Starbucks’ financial performance “makes it clear that we need to fundamentally change our strategy so we can get back to growth,” according to CNN.