Starbucks bucks trend and gives generous benefits to workers

Last night on the "Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" (or whatever that guy's name is), the Chairman of Starbucks was on. He talked about how the company tried to really take care of their employees, offering full health benefits for part-time workers and stock buying. He said that he was shaped by the experience of his father being injured on the job and receiving no compensation.

Certainly companies are now offering much fewer benefits. Part of this is necessary to stay in business, but much of this seems driven by quarterly earnings reports and compensation at the top.

I usually have been "pro-growth" and the like, but shouldn't companies think about people as well as profits? As we talk about living missionally, how does this affect how Christians act in the workplace? Should we be driven by the bottom line or by people? What if this means risking our own job because we are not meeting numbers?