Starbucks Korea celebrates a decade supporting youth with JA Korea

Starbucks Korea marks the 10th year of its partnership with JA Korea in providing career education. Since the program began in 2015, over 1,900 Starbucks partners have volunteered after completing specialized training courses. These volunteers have visited approximately 546 vocational high schools nationwide, serving as career mentors to over 18,000 students.

Celebrating a decade of its career education program, Starbucks Korea resumed its in-person opportunity fair aimed at vocational high school students to improve youth employment opportunities. The event, which took place on April 30, welcomed 300 students from 27 vocational high schools across Seoul and the Gyeonggi region. This marked a return to an in-person format following the switch to online events during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The opportunity fair provided a variety of hands-on sessions designed to assist the students in their job-seeking activities after graduation. These sessions were made possible by a portion of profits from the Jongno R Community Store. Activities included resume review, photo shoots, personalized image consulting for interview preparation, and barista experience activity.

The fair also featured presentation skills training to enhance the students' employment capabilities and facilitate job connections, including a "Starbucks Barista Mock Interview" led by regional district managers, a coffee seminar by Starbucks coffee ambassador, and career counseling provided by Starbucks store managers and district managers.

Starbucks Korea plans to continue hosting opportunity fairs throughout the second half of the year and will simultaneously conduct career education activities from May to September in six cities nationwide, including Seoul, Busan, and Jeju, targeting around 1,000 students. To date, Starbucks Korea has employed 401 baristas who connected through the opportunity fair.

Kim Ji-young, head of Starbucks Korea's ESG team, stated, “It is meaningful to participate in the career education and future preparation of our youth. We will continue to provide assistance through various volunteer activities, ensuring that young people can experience the joy of employment success.”

In January 2024, Starbucks Korea signed an agreement with JA Korea to further promote youth employment through education and barista recruitment programs. The Jongno R store, Starbucks Korea’s 8th Community Store, was opened as part of this initiative. For every item purchased at the store, 300 won is donated to support youth employment.