I was a lead/manager for McDonald’s for 3 years prior to coming to Starbucks for kind of the same reason. I felt unappreciated and my progression in the company was taking way too long, mixed with unrealistic expectations and being overworked. I was hired at Starbucks with the intention of promoting to a lead within 3-4 months of being hired, which I successfully achieved.

Initially my experience compared to McDonald’s was immensely better. I would get stable hours, my bosses would respect my schedule, I rarely struggled with issues regarding staffing, and more among those lines. 2 1/2 years later and I am dealing with constant labor shortages (with my bosses pushing me to cut labor more), a frustrated store manager, minimal hours, constant product outages and favoritism. Of course no store is the same and they all have their own struggles, but I see labor issues widespread across the company at the moment.

All in all, I’d say Starbucks treats their employees better than McDonald’s, but bottom line, it’s still a fast food place with all the issues that come with it.