Starbucks Begins Barista Work Experience Program Training

20 Young Adults Aged 18-34 Participating in the National Employment Support Program

The in-house Starbucks instructor (left) is conducting a coffee practice session with trainees participating in the barista work experience program.

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Starbucks Coffee Korea announced on the 23rd that it has newly established the Barista Work Experience Program under the National Employment Support System and began pilot operation training from the 22nd.

The Starbucks Barista Work Experience Program under the National Employment Support System is part of the "Youth Employment Support Project Business Agreement" signed between the Ministry of Employment and Labor and Starbucks on the 27th of last month. It was designed to help young job seekers enter society by providing various coffee knowledge and practical opportunities.

The program participants are young people aged 18 to 34 who participate in the National Employment Support System, including those with a median income of 120% or less. A total of 20 young trainees participated in this pilot training.

Starbucks has prepared a customized curriculum to help trainees better understand the barista profession and assigned a dedicated team of professional in-house instructors who train Starbucks baristas as the main instructors, offering various training programs totaling 40 hours to enhance barista job competencies.

The training consists of offline practical training, online education, store tours, and individual assignments in sequence. During the first two days of training, trainees participate in coffee tasting and learn various skills applicable to actual barista duties, such as latte art and brewing extraction practice, through offline practical training.

Afterwards, trainees study overall coffee knowledge through online education, including the history of coffee, characteristics of coffee by country, coffee production regions, and roasting methods. Through store tours, they visit major Starbucks stores such as Starbucks Byeoldabang Branch and The Yangpyeong DTR Branch in person.

Finally, trainees will complete the training by submitting a free-form assignment based on their learning, expressing their thoughts on recent trends in the coffee industry and the image of the coffee industry as viewed by the MZ generation.

All 20 participating trainees will be issued certificates of completion for the National Employment Support System Work Experience Program. Starbucks stated that starting with this pilot training, it plans to expand the number of trainees to 50 per quarter next year, aiming to graduate 200 trainees annually and provide more young people with barista job experience opportunities.