Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to the other information set forth in this 10-Q, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties discussed in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in our 2021 Form 10-K, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or future results. The information presented below updates, and should be read in conjunction with, the risk factors disclosed in our 2021 Form 10-K. Otherwise, except as presented below, there have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in our 2021 Form 10-K.
Changes in the availability of and the cost of labor could adversely affect our business.
Our business could be adversely impacted by increases in labor costs, including wages and benefits, which, in a retail business such as ours, are two of our most significant costs, both domestically and internationally, including those increases triggered by regulatory actions regarding wages, scheduling and benefits; increased health care and workers’ compensation insurance costs; increased wages and costs of other benefits necessary to attract and retain high quality employees with the right skill sets and increased wages, benefits and costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and inflationary and other pressure on wages now being experienced. The growth of our business can make it increasingly difficult to locate and hire sufficient numbers of employees, to maintain an effective system of internal controls for a globally dispersed enterprise and to train employees worldwide to deliver a consistently high-quality product and customer experience, which could materially harm our business and results of operations. Furthermore, we have experienced, and could continue to experience, a shortage of labor for store positions, including due to concerns around and illnesses arising from COVID-19 and its various novel variants and other factors, which could decrease the pool of available qualified talent for key functions and require stores to operate on reduced hours. Such labor shortages could be further exacerbated by expanded federal, state and local COVID-19 vaccination requirements. In addition, our wages and benefits programs may be insufficient to attract and retain the best talent especially in a rising wage market. Furthermore, while the number of partners represented by unions is not significant, if a significant portion of our employees were to become unionized, our labor costs could increase and our business could be negatively affected by other requirements and expectations that could increase our costs, change our employee culture, decrease our flexibility and disrupt our business. In December 2021, Starbucks partners at two stores in New York voted in favor of union representation and soon after stores in multiple jurisdictions across the United States have filed for unionization with the National Labor Relation Board with more that may follow. Further, our responses to any union organizing efforts could negatively impact how our brand is perceived and have adverse effects on our business, including on our financial results.
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