As you all know by now, I am clearly not an economist. While I’ve picked up a feel for the trends and events that seem to impact the economy, I’m just like the rest of you. I read a lot about the hills and valleys that seemingly impact the markets, but if the conversation gets the least bit technical, I’m out.
But you’d have to be totally checked out not to see the big boulders piling up on the horizon that seem highly likely to impact the radio business, as well as the personal fortunes of all of us dependent on it for our livelihoods. The tariffs that come and go, another Middle East war on the horizon, and the accompanying uncertainty have been enough to roil the markets during this precarious first half of the year. I have spoken to some broadcasters who have fared remarkably well during the first several months of 2025. But the trend for many others has been heading southward.
Going back to 30,000 feet, there’s this veil of unemployment looming again on the horizon. Whether it is tech companies, retailers, or yes, the radio business, “body count” is always a metric to keep an eye on. One of the companies I watch is Starbucks, a brand that’s part of my daily routine. As many of you know, they’ve struggled over the past few years—since COVID really—and now they have a CEO from Chipotle—Brian Niccol—who is trying different things to jumpstart this once wildly successful company.
Yes, now there’s a barista dress code (not real popular), smiley faces and too cute messages
written on the cups, and there’s even ceramic mugs for those planning on hanging out for awhile. None of these improvements (in my opinion) seems to have stirred the coffee.
They are mostly cosmetic changes, and aren’t likely to nudge a brand most people have a distinct opinion about. As we know in radio, those minor tweaks—or “baby steps”—don’t usually have much of an effect on a station’s overall image, much less its time spent listening. And it’s probably not dissimilar for a chain of coffee shops hoping to nudge up “same store sales” to keep the Wall Street piranhas off their backs.
So, that’s why I did a double-take the other day when I read a Sherwood News story with this unusual headline:
“Starbucks goes all in on human baristas after years of slashing the size of its workforce”
Talk about a “man bites dog” story! At a time when other “quick serve restaurants”—or QSRs—are figuring out how to use AI technology to eliminate the order window humans in the drive-thrus, Starbucks is bucking the trend.
And as Sherwood News writer Millie Giles puts the point on it, Starbucks is going for the “human touch.” Think of it as the coffee chain’s answer to voicetracking and remote personalities. But as in radio, it take more than a live body in the studio—they have to work it.
In fact, Starbucks’ new global barista champ, Nobuki, maintains the connection starts with a “sparkling smile.”
For the corporate point of view, here’s how Niccol puts this change into focus:
“We over-rotated on the idea of equipment and that replacing the humanity of service, and I think service is our point of difference.”
Niccol took the opportunity of bringing 14,000 store managers from all over North America to herald “the biggest human capital investment in connection in the history of Starbucks.” The meetings took place in Vegas, and according to the store manager here in Royal Oak, Michigan, it was an inspiring week.
Here is the theory behind Starbucks bucking convention, and staffing up. The trender below shows how the “employees per store” metric has sharply gone down starting in 2023.
via Sherwood News
It makes you wonder what the companion chart for radio—”employees per station”—would look like over the same nine-year period.
Will this hiring influx make a difference in Starbucks’ operations and eventually, its bottom-line performance? Its declining battalion of baristas apparently believe this policy shift can’t happen soon enough. Not surprisingly, the financial community is not as bullish on Starbucks’ hiring initiative.
The numbers may actually on be on Niccol’s side. A story from this past March in Fast Company reveals the calculated price tag of employee burnout. It’s from a research study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Their numbers show that the cost of overburdened workers in the U.S. comes to somewhere between $4,000 and $21,000 per employee per year.
The researchers made up a collaborative effort by several universities, based at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. They developed a useful model that simulates how employees handle their job stress at various points on the curve: from active engagement on the job, later to disengagement, and eventually to burnout—based on multiple factors that happen in the workplace as well as at home.
Their calculation shows that for a nonmanagerial salaried employee, the average cost to an employer is north of $4,200; for a manager, nearly $11,000, and for a company exec, the tab runs up to more than $20,600.
The study also notes how burnout impacts healthcare and insurance costs, as well as training per worker. Maybe this is the kind of data CEO Niccol was seeing from the Starbucks insights team.
No matter how you add it up, they are significant losses. They impact the brand, the company culture, and ultimately, profitability. And while Fast Company’s Jennifer Mattson reminds us we usually read about the ravages of burnout from the workers point of view, these financial costs to companies are staggering.
And when we segue to radio, we see many of these same telltale signs. While no academicians have taken on the chore of determining the cost of RIFs—on workers who have lost their jobs, retained their jobs, and the tab for stations and companies—you have to believe many of the same variables are in play.
We’ve been surveying talent in commercial radio in the U.S. since 2018 in our AQ studies in
collaboration with Morning Show Boot Camp. And now, CMB has made it possible to have data for hosts working in Christian music radio in a study called On Air Pulse. In a few weeks, I’ll be presenting a webinar that compares and contrasts these two radio platforms.
Suffice it to say, the grass is greener on the Christian radio side of the console. In most dimensions, the experience in commercial radio is more stressful and challenging than in Christian music radio.
That’s the Christian study—On Air Pulse—on the left , and the commercial radio version—AQ—on the right. Looking at the averages, each industry’s “hat” average is just under three jobs per host.
When we drill it down, however, to those tacklinig four jobs or more, nearly one-third of our commercial talent fall into that group of radio multitaskers. It’s somewhat saner in Christian music radio, but close to one-fifth of their presenters are wearing four or more hats.
And of course, there’s the stress component. A look at 2024’s AQ6 study shows just how pervasive anxiety in the workplace has been, especially since the pandemic:
And note that fat red arrow at the bottom right of this chart. Yes, you’re reading it right—a whopping eight in ten of those wearing four hats or more exhibit signs of great stress.
Are anxiety levels less pervasive in Christian music radio? They are, but not by a demonstrable amount. Stress is a shared condition in radio—and in the workforce in general.
It makes you wonder, what’s worse? Losing your job in another company, cluster, or station RIF—OR—retaining your position but having management add more job duties, often with little additional compensation. And money aside, there are few broadcast owners willing to give their hard-working employees what they really need—support staff and time off.
The emphasis tends to be on the victims of these staff cutbacks—those who find themselves on the beach. But perhaps it should also be on those who still have their jobs—perhaps now wearing more “hats”—trying to figure out how to keep the station on the air during these times of declining numbers of employees.
The unique research studies our company has produced with radio talent tells an important story that the folks on the top of the org charts should take into account. It will be fascinating to see if Starbucks can flip the script later this year, amidst the economic turmoil and fear.
And if they do, to what extent will the turnaround be attributed to the company hiring more employees to provide better and more personal service?
Or will it be credited to those pithy slogans written with Sharpies on their cups?
We’ll be talking about all these issues at Morning Show Boot Camp in August in Austin. I’m honored to moderate a superstar panel of radio personalities with a lot to say. And attendees will
have a chance to have their voice heard thanks to TextGroove’s live platform. Info/registration is here.
Originally published by Jacobs Media
