How does the Luckin coffee rehire policy treat former staff?

A former Luckin Coffee barista who left two years ago for a school internship applied for part-time work at several stores and was rejected at each one. A recruiter told him that anyone who has previously worked at Luckin cannot be rehired, a rule that has stirred confusion and discussion among former employees.

Leaving and returning is not unusual in the coffee industry, and Starbucks is known for a more open stance on rehiring. Luckin's stricter approach raises questions about whether it is meant to protect store stability or rests on other considerations. Many former staff have said online that they would like to come back to the bar.

In the coffee industry, it is not uncommon for employees to leave and later return to their original company. However, a former Luckin Coffee employee who tried to return to the bar as a part-timer after a two-year absence ran into one rejection after another. A recruiter explicitly stated that "anyone who has previously worked at Luckin cannot be rehired," a rule that has sparked considerable confusion and discussion among former employees. Compared with Starbucks' open attitude toward rehiring former employees, why is Luckin's recruitment policy so strict? Is it out of concern for stability, or is there another reason? This article will walk you through the various perspectives behind this phenomenon.

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On the job-hunting journey, some people keep moving forward, constantly embracing new challenges; some find a place they love and settle down, enjoying stability; and others, after years of wandering, finally realize that their original starting point may be the place that suits them best.

A former Luckin employee belongs to the latter category. He was once a barista at a certain store, but due to practical reasons such as a school internship, he had to bid farewell to the position he loved. Two years passed, and he often recalled the busy hours at the bar, growing more nostalgic by the day, so he recently submitted a part-time application to Luckin, hoping to return once more to that familiar Luckin bar.

However, the result was beyond his expectations—the part-time application was not approved as he had anticipated. He tried several stores and was rejected at every one. On a recruitment platform, a Luckin staff member in charge of hiring told him bluntly: "Anyone who has previously worked at Luckin cannot be rehired."

This experience left the former employee quite puzzled: he has extensive Luckin work experience, and all he wants is a part-time job he enjoys, returning to a work atmosphere where he feels comfortable—so why is it so difficult?

In fact, many former Luckin employees have expressed similar thoughts on social platforms before. After being tempered by society, they still want to return to work at Luckin. Among them, some were once full-time employees, some worked part-time; all had to leave for certain practical reasons, but deep down they still loved that busy bar, so after leaving they could never forget it and held onto the hope of returning to Luckin.

In their view, they have extensive bar experience, and after being rehired they would be willing to accept pay and assessments calculated from scratch. For store operators, training a completely inexperienced new employee requires a great deal of time and energy, but an experienced former employee might get back up to speed in just two or three days, greatly saving training costs.

But in the process of applying for rehire, most people reported that they either got stuck at the approval stage with no response for a long time, or were discovered during a background check to have a prior departure record and were promptly rejected. Seeing that Starbucks next door does not reject rehires, Luckin's workers can't help but wonder: where exactly is the problem?

In this regard, some seasoned workplace professionals believe that "a good horse never turns back to graze on old pasture." Although rehiring former employees may seem to offer many benefits to stores, Luckin, as a company with a complete system, may have its own considerations for rejecting rehires. For example, they may believe that employees who have already left the company lack stability and might leave again someday.

However, some also feel that most of these workers who want to return to Luckin identify with Luckin's corporate culture and enjoy the work atmosphere in its stores—that's why they have the idea of being rehired. Given their sincere hearts, perhaps Luckin could give them one more chance at employment; after all, these former employees are more cost-effective than novices.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.