Last week, Starbucks announced the closure of 1% of its North American stores by the end of 2025, resulting in sudden job losses for hundreds of baristas.

The closures are one part of a $1 billion restructuring strategy dubbed “Back to Starbucks”; the coffee chain will also be laying off 900 corporate employees.

Processing the news in real time, Starbucks baristas have made their feelings about the closures clear, filming their reactions and going viral in the process.

A Starbucks employee at a Washington state location posted a heartfelt video to TikTok last week.

“Starbucks permanently closing my store and leaving us jobless was not on my 2025 bingo card,” she wrote alongside a clip, which has more than a million views, of her hugging a coworker.

In a follow-up video, she wrote: “ma

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