Starbucks to provide free barista training to youth

Starbucks Korea will provide free barista training to as many as 200 young job seekers next year, as part of a government project to tackle youth joblessness.

The coffee chain inked a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday to participate in the ministry’s “Youth Employment Support Project.” 

The project aims to promote companies to provide work experiences and various job training programs for young job seekers.

Starbucks is the ninth company to join the project.

The barista training program, set to start next month, will be open to 40 participants between the ages of 18 and 34 who make less than 20 percent above the median income.

The four-week course consists of lectures on coffee trends, coffee making practice sessions and tours of Starbucks stores. 

A professional barista trainer, who also teaches baristas working in Starbucks locations, will be leading the program, the company said.

A memorandum signing ceremony was held Wednesday at the Starbucks Academy in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, and was attended by Labor Minister An Kyung-duk, Starbucks Korea CEO Song Ho-seop, Executive Vice Chairman of Korea Enterprises Federation Lee Dong-geun and professor Kwon Soon-won from Sookmyung Women’s University.

“The ministry is very grateful to work (with Starbucks) to revitalize youth employment through today’s agreement ceremony,” said Labor Minister An.

Starbucks has recently announced a plan to hire 1,600 new employees, including baristas, this year to relieve some of the burden from store staff in response to recent complaints over extreme workload.

By Kang Jae-eun (kang.jaeeun@heraldcorp.com)