barista

store manager

regional manager

Clutch Coffee Bar

The job itself is a blast. You have fun music, fun people, and you get to create amazing drinks and experiences while having a good time. It’s great, until it’s not. I loved my job and gave it my all, but after a while you get extremely burnt out. Management plays favorites and are extremely hypocritical. When you’re on their good side you can get away with almost anything but if they aren’t friends with you every move is critiqued. Favoritism was heavily present when it came to raises, promotions, scheduling, etc. It was no secret that managers and certain team members would frequently hang out after work and though I have no problem with having friendships outside of work, there should be certain standards held within the workplace that just weren’t there. At first things seem pretty good but the facade slowly slips as time goes on. There was a lot of drama which makes sense considering the demographic they hire but the worst part was that the managers perpetuated that drama rather than take action to resolve it, often inputting their own gossip and creating more problems in the process. Often times employees were pitted against each other with no other intention than to cause problems. Sometimes people would write snide remarks or complaints on sticky notes or tape and leave them out for others to see creating a very uncomfortable work environment, and the people that did this were in higher ranking positions where this behavior should not be tolerated. Miscommunications in the work place were often misunderstood as deep problems and rather than discussing the issues, management would make their own assumptions and jump the gun when it came to “solving” said “problems”. Many times employees got their hours cut due to issues that were never communicated to them and were left in the dark as to why they were being punished, and management found this funny. It was often a shift leads responsibility to address problems that should have been handled by a manager and this created awkwardness and tension on shift many times. The managers genuinely seemed like they hated their jobs and did not want to be in management positions, finding every opportunity to push any responsibility they could on to a shift lead or talk about how much money they could make and how much happier they would be if they worked elsewhere. It is also extremely hard to maintain communication with management. Many times shift leads were met with issues that they were unable to fix themselves and would be unable to get a proper response from a manager in a timely fashion. And what was worse is that managers preached communication while simultaneously making communication a very difficult thing to achieve. There was also a lot of high standards that were often impossible to meet such as reviews. Not everyone wants to leave a review and I personally don’t think that bombarding every single customer for a review reflects positively on the establishment. However, if we did not meet a certain number of reviews a week we were blamed and accused of not trying hard enough which very negatively affected the team’s morale. The sensors are also awkwardly placed and ineffective at different locations and this often negatively impacted service/window times which teams were then blamed for despite having minimal control over it. What’s funny is that management really only seemed to care about these things and more since it impacted their monthly bonuses, don’t forget that managers get payed extra for you going above and beyond despite them not being in the building or even reachable most of the time. Overall the poor management was the main contributor to the poor morale often felt in the workplace, funny that the best shifts both in morale and sales were often the shifts where we felt the least pressure from management as were able to actually enjoy our work and find pride in it rather than constantly worry about whether we were good enough or not. Ultimately I absolutely adored my job, I loved the team I worked with, I loved making drinks, I loved seeing regulars and creating new ones, I loved every little bit of my day to day work. I just wish that management would actually step up and do their job in a professional manner and take responsibility for their store and their actions. If certain issues were addressed properly things would have been different as I love what the owners stand for and their ambitions for the company, I just wish their passion and goodheartedness was shared amongst their supposed leaders. If Clutch can find and maintain good people that take pride in managing their shops I could see the company going far but with what I saw while working there, they are bound to go significantly downhill due to awful management and their inability to solve problems and uphold proper work standards. Yes employees are replaceable but only for so long. Good people have been and will continue to be pushed away if they do not gain control over how their shops are managed. I hold hope that they can fix their issues before things get too out of hand, but with how fast they are trying to grow right now I don’t see that happening. They need to slow down a little and address their problems head on before it’s too late, but time is money and they are a business after all. 

I worked as a store manager, an assistant manager, a shiftlead and a barista in my two and a half years here. I do absolutely love Clutch's overall environment, it's very fun and laid back, and shows that there is a lot of opportunity in terms of growth and development. However, I found as I went through the growth of these positions, there were considerable drawbacks in my advancement. Upper management requires the teams in their stores to be utterly and entirely flexible -- in which case, flexibility is a plus but it also opens avenues of inconsistency throughout all stores. Each store has its own culture, but it is difficult to feel as though you are getting the same experience throughout each store, both in drink quality and customer service. Lastly, the expectation for managers to essentially micromanage their shop made me feel as though I was under constant scrutiny. I did receive good feedback occasionally but the gray hairs on my head say otherwise.

If you wish to start working here, my word of advice is to always be true to yourself and work hard, but do not work more than what you are paid. During my transition out of the store, it was incredibly frustrating to be nitpicked considering all of the culture I had curated with my team over the last two and a half years.

A typical day at the Clutch Coffee in Taylors is sitting on a milk crate for 6 hours with one other person, waiting for customers. The management is your best friend one day and then obsessed with drive times for the maybe 100 customers the next day. The pay is not worth it, the hours are nonexistent. Tips never get you 15 an hour, maybe a couple extra bucks cash. Health and safety is completely ignored, and higher ups are fake and only concerned about drive times and profits. There are constant changing promos to try to drive business, so customers only come because they want cheap or free coffee. The few regulars that do come are very kind and loyal. 'Brownie points' and 'Clutch bucks' are used for recognition instead of pay raises because no one wants to do their job. The place sucks the life out of you. I enjoyed working with most of my coworkers and management until they changed when I put in my two weeks notice and gave criticism of their management style after they repeatedly asked for it. They will ask for your honest opinions, but they either can't do anything about the actual problems with how the company is run, or they will take it as a personal offense.

I really, truly, deeply, loved my job here. I worked overtime many weeks and went above and beyond on the daily because I was under the impression that I could grow within the company. My efforts went unnoticed, and I was falsely “promised” a raise that was ripped away from me, leaving me hanging high and dry since I had already quit my second job in order to have full availability for them as that’s what they wanted for me to do in order to receive a raise. I thought my shop managers were the main issue but it turns out that the entirety of upper management was part of the problem as well, since when I went to them I ended up being blamed, lied to, and ultimately ghosted before quitting. I watched innocent, hard-working, underaged girls be exposed to indecent conversations within the shop and be demoted and fired because of the managers personal vendettas against them and childish behavior. I would never recommend for anyone to apply here or let their children apply here as it was heartbreaking for me and I can’t imagine the mental toll it took upon the children that were working there with me during my time with this company.

Very easy work if you're just a barista and not closing. Money is supplementary. Closing is a nightmare with how dirty everything gets because of how rushed you are and upper management would come down on you asking why it's taking longer than 30 mins past close, but openers will complain and closers would get blamed if ANYTHING wasn't done correctly, and it is a LOT for only 2 people! Not worth advancing with the company- they will promise you hours/time off/etc and not deliver. They also expect you to do EVERYTHING while working the store, and you are not allowed to do admin work outside of the store and they won't schedule extra hours nor be happy about you working overtime. Makes you do TONS of unpaid online training at home. My coworkers were 10 years younger than me and started resenting me when I started managing, making it even harder to connect with them. When I asserted my boundaries and refused to be taken advantage of (Not a college student), I was demoted and my hours cut SIGNIFICANTLY. I ghosted because I refuse to be disrespected like that.

Working at clutch coffee is great if all you need is a part time low income job. If you are interested in a full time job such as manager or assistant manager I would suggest you keep looking. This place will take advantage of you being young and in college and not knowing your worth. They will not pay you what you are worth. You will be expected to do everything perfectly and upper management will not help you. They will make fake promises and never see them through. They will force you to work on the floor (which is the only way you make money because they only give you your extra $4 an hour when you are) but they also schedule mandatory meetings during shifts and expect you to do admin, community calls, and inventory while getting paid even less. In order to make money you’ll have to work 50 hour weeks and they’ll still ask for more. While the job on the floor is easy and the job itself may not be as demanding, upper management will suck you dry and lie to you. 

The music is fun, and it's overall a laid back atmosphere, easy work once you learn the recipes. The environment can get toxic quickly, upper management is fake and you have to work your a** off for them to care. There is no work/life balance once you make it to management or if your just a hard worker in general. They DO NOT care about your mental health or overall well-being. I stepped down from my management position and they further demoted me and forced me to work at a different store that had a longer commute and for much less pay. The pay also isn't there, tips aren't that great except maybe close to christmas.  Overall a good life lesson/learning experience but probably not for the right reasons.

The job itself was easy and boring. Management was the issue. I worked here for a year and went through 4 managers. The pay isn't enough for what you deal with as a shift lead. You constantly have to ask questions because management does not tell you anything that you need to know. All of my coworkers were very kind and enjoyable but management was never good. They only promote from within, which sounds good until you have a fellow college student with no management experience in charge of you and tens of other young adults. I suggest finding a different coffee shop if you would like to stay long-term.

Clutch Coffee Bar is rapidly growing so there will be a little bit of growth pains here and there but overall the laid-back environment and the company here encouraging everyone to be positive and have fun with the culture of coffee, social media, and art makes this company stand out. With a rapidly growing it is very easy for people who work hard to get promoted. I have seen people become store managers in less than a year which would never be the case in a typical Starbucks or other coffee job. Definitely a job for people who are extroverts. Not a strict uniform. 

Disorganized management, lack of communication, and hypocrisy. I mean no hate but management does not communicate with each other and places blame on newer employees. I had been warned from several people of the cons working for clutch, I didn't believe them until I experienced it myself. I recommend working for a larger chain with more clear expectations. They have good product and great business potential but there's a lot of issues that need to be fixed with internal management. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Barista 45 salaries reported	$13.51 per hour
Store manager 16 salaries reported	$48,469 per year
Regional manager 1 salary reported	$75,000 per year

Working at Clutch Coffee Bar: Company Overview and Reviews

Clutch Coffee Bar

Clutch Coffee Bar Ratings

Popular jobs at Clutch Coffee Bar

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected