Starbucks Forced to Go Back in Time to Pay Its Employees After 'Ransomware Incident' A ransomware attack on third-party management software company Blue Yonder has caused Starbucks managers to rely on paper and pen to track employees' hours.
By David James
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Blue Yonder Group Inc., a supply chain management software company, was hit with a ransomware attack that affected many customers, including Starbucks.
The coffee giant uses Blue Yonder software to schedule shifts and track the hours of its North American workforce, reports the Seattle Times, so they were sent back to the stone age and forced to rely on good ol' pen and paper for their records. (If their ability to spell our names correctly on cups is any indication, this could go very badly.)
Starbucks informed its workers in an email, obtained by Bloomberg, that in order to get paychecks out on Nov. 29, they'll pay for shifts scheduled for the week of Nov. 18 — whether or not those hours are accurate. Staffers may have worked extra hours or taken days off during that period.
"We are hopeful this outage will not extend to impact payroll processing for future weeks," the company said in the message. "However, we are continuing to look for ways to improve pay accuracy and processing should the outage continue."
Do you think Starbucks is doing the right thing? Would you approach the situation differently? See how your leadership style lines up with Starbucks's decision-makers by taking this free quiz.
Related: Starbucks Wants To Turn Things Around With Sharpies, Mugs
