• Starbucks is hosting a three-hour meeting for store employees later this month.
• The meeting will focus on ways that employees can make Starbucks "a welcoming coffeehouse" again.
• Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is trying to turn around results at the coffee chain.

Starbucks store employees in the US will have to attend a three-hour training session later this month, Business Insider has learned, as the coffee chain's new CEO attempts to revitalize it.

Starbucks' role as a place for customers to hang out is expected to be a key topic at the meeting, according to a description from Starbucks' intranet seen by BI.

"We will be talking about an opportunity to refocus on what has always set Starbucks apart — a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather and we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by skilled baristas," the description reads.

The meetings will take place at different times at different stores, four store employees told BI. They'll happen between January 21 and 26 and will be entitled "Welcome Back to Starbucks," according to one sign posted at a store and seen by BI.

Store employees, whom Starbucks calls "partners," have to attend the meeting, even if that means going to another store's version because it fits their schedule better, two partners said. In some cases, partners will fill in shifts at other stores so that employees there can be present, one partner said.

Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Starbucks is in the midst of a turnaround effort after reporting slumping sales in recent quarters.

Brian Niccol, who oversaw major changes at Mexican grill chain Chipotle, became Starbucks' CEO in September. Since then, he's unveiled several changes, from the reintroduction of self-service condiment bars to instituting a goal of four minutes or less for preparing customers' orders.

Niccol has also said that he wants Starbucks stores to be "inviting places to linger" while also serving customers who want quick to-go service.

One partner at a Starbucks store in Florida told BI that he hopes Starbucks will unveil more changes to streamline workflow at his store during the meeting.

He pointed to some adjustments that Starbucks has already made under Niccol's leadership, such as instructing baristas to prepare some drinks with a blender instead of shaking them — a small change that saves each barista valuable seconds when filling orders.

"I would love to see a continuation of that," he said.

Do you work at Starbucks and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• At least five separate wildfires are ravaging Los Angeles and Southern California.
• The Palisades Fire alone has burned through over 17,000 acres of land in two days.
• For context, the entire island of Manhattan is 14,600 acres.

A series of wildfires have battered Los Angeles and other surrounding areas of Southern California since Tuesday, killing at least five people, burning through tends of thousands of acres of land, and destroying at least 1,000 structures.

The damage so far is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

When natural disasters strike, numbers like these — that reach the thousands, millions, and even billions — can become difficult to comprehend.

To put the wildfire destruction in California into perspective, here are seven statistics to help understand the damage they have inflicted.

The Palisades Fire alone has burned through 17,000 acres. That's larger than the entire island of Manhattan.

That makes the fire, which started on Tuesday morning, the most destructive fire in Los Angeles' history, according to multiple reports.

The island of Manhattan in New York is roughly 15,000 acres.

In total, more than 26,978 acres had been burned as of 1:45 a.m. Thursday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported.

Officials ordered 130,000 to evacuate, a number that's greater than the population of Kansas' capital city.

That number is more than the population of Topeka, the capital of Kansas, which has a population of 125,457, according to 2023 population estimates by the US Census.

Los Angeles' total population is just under 4 million people. That means around 3% of the city's population has been displaced.

More than 420,000 people are estimated to be without power. That's roughly the population of Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota.

The number comes from PowerOutage.us, which has been tracking power outages across California.

One estimate puts damage and economic losses at $52 to $57 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.

That preliminary estimate, from forecasting service Accuweather, could increase if the fires spread to further areas.

For comparison, the total GDP of the country of Libya is $48 billion, according to the IMF.

If this was a hurricane, that'd make it the 10th-costliest storm in history, right below 2012's Hurricane Sandy.

More than 7,500 LA firefighters have been deployed, but that's still not enough.

Governor Gavin Newsom is sending in the state's National Guard, and more firefighters are coming from Nothern California. The Los Angeles Times reported Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone requested aid from fire departments in Oregon, New Mexico, Washington, and Utah.

Wind gusts have reached 90 mph. That's equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

The powerful winds contributed to the quick spread of the fires and hampered firefighting efforts.

For comparison, Category 1 hurricanes have wind speeds of between 74 and 95 mph, and they can do a lot of damage. Hurricane Florence was a Category 1 storm when it made landfall in North Carolina in September 2018, and was one of the costliest hurricanes in history.

Universal Studios was forced to close for the first time since COVID-19 in 2020.

Universal Studios said in a statement it closed its gates on Wednesday "out of an abundance of caution" due to the high winds and fires, closing for the first time since the park shut down in March 2020, per People. It remained closed on Thursday.

Disneyland, located in Anaheim, has been able to remain open.

• Multiple fires are devastating the Los Angeles area with over 100,000 people told to evacuate.
• Landmarks such as the Hollywood sign and the Getty Center were undamaged but engulfed in smoke.
• The Griffith Observatory will be closed until further notice.

The Los Angeles wildfires have devastated portions of the city and surrounding areas.

The Palisades fire, which started on January 7, has left more than 17,000 acres burning unchecked. In total, wildfires have burned over 27,000 acres.

Over 100,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate, and many more have lost their homes.

Here's how the fires have impacted some of the most famous landmarks in Los Angeles.

The Griffith Observatory offers free public telescopes and sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles.

The structure, which spans 67,000 square feet, includes a planetarium, observatory, and exhibits about the cosmos.

The observatory's telescopes were rendered useless due to thick clouds of smoke.

The Griffith Observatory wrote on Instagram on Wednesday that it will be closed until further notice due to the current weather and fire conditions.

The Hollywood sign, visible from the Griffith Observatory, is the most famous landmark in Los Angeles.

The Hollywood sign has been featured in countless TV shows and movies over the years as the most iconic location in the city.

As fires blazed across the city, the normally blue skies turned gray with smoke and ash.

As of Thursday, the sign was not located in an evacuation warning area, but the site is closed due to damage from surrounding fires.

After false images of the sign burning began to circulate on social media, the Hollywood Sign clarified in a Facebook post that it "continues to stand tall!"

Sunset Boulevard boasts luxury shops, restaurants, and nightlife.

The famous 1.7-mile-long Sunset Strip along Sunset Boulevard is located between Hollywood and West Hollywood.

Part of Sunset Boulevard has been hit hard by the wildfires.

Part of Sunset Boulevard, which spans 25 miles, is located in Pacific Palisades. The Palisades fire caused heavy damage, and many buildings along the famous street have burned down.

The Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena is home to the UCLA Bruins college football team.

The stadium also hosts its namesake Rose Bowl Game annually on New Year's Day.

Aerial views of The Rose Bowl were obscured by smoke.

Some sports games have been postponed due to the wildfires. On Wednesday, the National Hockey League delayed a match between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames that was supposed to take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The Getty Center, a giant museum complex in the Santa Monica Mountains, spans 110 acres.

Designed by architect Richard Meier, the Getty Center houses collections of paintings, manuscripts, photography, and sculptures from Europe and the US.

The effects of the wildfires could be seen in the distance behind the museum on Wednesday at sunset.

Clouds of smoke billowed around the complex, but the museum was undamaged.

The Getty Villa, situated on a 64-acre estate, houses Greek and Roman antiquities.

The Getty Villa, built by J. Paul Getty, is located about 11 miles from the Getty Museum.

Wildfires scorched the grounds of the Getty Villa, but the building itself remains safe.

Katherine E. Fleming, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that the organization "had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year."

"Some trees and vegetation on-site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe," she said.

Located near the Getty Villa, the Kauffman Estate has appeared in music videos such as "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga and "Haunted" by Beyoncé.

Also known as the Villa de Leon, the French Revival estate was built in Malibu in 1927 for wool merchant Leon Kauffman.

The 12,000-square-foot mansion was barely visible in the orange sky.

Winds of up to 90 miles per hour made the California wildfires difficult to control.

The Kauffman Estate, now a private residence, appeared to still be standing as of Tuesday evening, but the extent of the damage is unclear.

Will Rogers State Historic Park in the Santa Monica Mountains was once the luxury residence of one of the highest-paid actors of the 1930s.

In the 1920s, Rogers built a ranch on the 359 acres of land he owned featuring a 31-room house, stables, and a golf course. His widow donated it to the California State Parks system in 1944.

The Palisades Fire destroyed "multiple structures" including Will Rogers' historic home, according to California State Parks.

"California State Parks mourns the loss of these treasured natural and cultural resources, and our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area," California State Parks director Armando Quintero said in a statement.

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Raging brush fires in California are causing mass destruction, exacerbating the state's home insurance crisis.

• Wildfires are burning across Los Angeles, coating the county in smoke.
• Health agencies issued warnings and schools closed as air quality reached unsafe levels.
• Experts break down why the fine-particle pollution can cause serious, long-term damage.

Wildfires erupted across Los Angeles, coating the county in smoke, haze, and an acrid smell.

The LA Public Health department issued an air quality alert, and many schools closed due to dangerous air quality. 

The mist that hovers over wildfire sites is a collection of fine-particle pollution (PM 2.5), Dr. David Hill, a pulmonologist with the American Lung Association, told the AP. 

"We have defenses in our upper airway to trap larger particles and prevent them from getting down into the lungs. These are sort of the right size to get past those defenses," Hill said. "When those particles get down into the respiratory space, they cause the body to have an inflammatory reaction to them."

What is the risk of wildfire smoke?

Fine-particle air pollution can cause inflammation in the lungs and reduce heart function — lasting effects similar to smoking cigarettes or exposure to diesel exhaust, the New York Times reported. 

Dr. Kari Nadeau, a physician and scientist at Stanford University, told the Times she believes the risk to our health is higher than that of smoking cigarettes. "Cigarettes at least have filters," Nadeau said.

This kind of air pollution is particularly risky for children, whose lungs are still developing. 

"They breathe in more air per unit of body weight," Laura Kate Bender, the lung association's National Assistant Vice President of healthy air, told the AP.

The risk of lung and heart irritation is also higher for older adults and people with lung or cardiovascular conditions, including asthma.

6 ways to stay safe when it's smoky outside

• Keep an eye on the air quality in your area to determine how long you should exercise caution. Until the risk passes, there are easy things you can do to protect yourself from experiencing long-term lung inflammation.
• If possible, stay inside and close your windows, Hill said. (You can put your zip code into AirNow.gov to find out the air quality in your area.)
• Do not burn candles, light a fire, or smoke indoors. That increases indoor pollution, according to a blog post from epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, of the University of Texas Health Science Center.
• Do not vacuum. That also affects your indoor air by kicking up any fine particles that may have come in through your window or door, Jetelina said.
• If you do go outside, wear an N95 mask, which — if fitted correctly — blocks out 95% of particles larger than 0.3 microns. As such, they effectively keep out 2.5-micron particles, which we're seeing from the wildfire smoke. "N95 masks are the type of face covering protection that I would recommend for somebody who is outside during the air pollution caused by wildfires," Marina Vance, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Healthline.
• While inside, you can run your air-conditioning unit if it has a good HVAC filter, and an air purifier can help too, the American Lung Association recommends.

• Employers see AI and cybersecurity skills as some of the most important in the next few years.
• Employers expect nearly 40% of skills to change or become irrelevant by 2030, a WEF report said.
• Big data specialists and fintech engineers will likely be the fastest-growing jobs.

Employers say AI and big data proficiency are now some of the most important skills for job seekers in the next few years, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report.

The sweeping survey found that employers believe various tech-related skills will grow in importance the fastest, while manual dexterity and reading will decline this year. This highlights the rapid workplace transformation happening across industries.

Over 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million employees worldwide were surveyed for the report, which previews the job landscape for 2025 to 2030.

AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy ranked as the three skills growing the fastest in importance. The AI boom has not only transformed Silicon Valley but also reshaped once-mundane tasks across industries, from legal research to code writing.

A Google Cloud director previously told Business Insider that cybersecurity is one of the most broadly relevant skills, with industries from agriculture to financial services seeking professionals in the space. Yet demand isn't being met, he said, and the field is here to stay.

Survey respondents said they don't anticipate that tech skills alone will be in demand. Creative thinking and resilience ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, on the list of skills growing the fastest in importance.

On the flip side, employers surveyed said they believe manual dexterity, endurance, and precision will decrease in importance. Reading, writing, and mathematics also saw a small dip among respondents. Overall, employees globally can expect that nearly 40% of their current skills will drastically change or become irrelevant by 2030, according to the survey.

Compared to the World Economic Forum's previous reports, tech skills saw the biggest jump in projected importance, with AI spiking in anticipated value across almost all agencies. Though the tech industry has hit a hiring slump in recent years, tech and non-tech companies alike are eager to hire AI roles, BI previously reported.

The fastest-growing jobs in the next five years will likely be big data specialists and fintech engineers, while clerical and secretarial workers will continue to decline, according to the report. With job growth slowing and unemployed Americans staying out of work longer, economists previously told BI that 2025 will prove challenging for job hunters overall, especially those in white-collar industries.