Starbucks has 277,000 employees at 24,000 outlets. That's a lot of coffee, and a lot of baristas, although the company refers to them as "partners." A partner in Florida named AJ lets us in on some of the things that go on behind the scenes, from the other side of the counter, so to speak.
Starbucks has drawn criticism for using Italian words for their drink sizes. A tall is 12 ounces; a grande is 16 ounces; a venti hot, 20 ounces; a venti cold, 24 ounces; and a trenta (only available for certain drinks), 31 ounces. Owing to confusion or indifference, many customers still use the more common "small, medium, large" terms. If you're wondering whether that irritates partners, the answer is no. “I would say 30 percent of people use our terms and know what they mean,” AJ says. Others use the more common sizes, or whatever size they happen to see on the menu. The problem, AJ adds, is when customers order a size in Italian and then complain they didn’t know what it meant, necessitating a time-consuming change in the order.
Read more about the life of a Starbucks employee at Mental Floss.