Graduates, apprentices, mentors, schools and charity partners have joined together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Starbucks Apprenticeship Programme in France. Since its launch, over 350 Starbucks partners (employees) have started an apprenticeship, with around 80 new apprentices joining each year.

Starbucks France offers the programme at a variety of levels to equip baristas and store supervisors with a range of transferable skills. The year-long programme combines academic training on topics such as retail management, marketing and customer service alongside practical training in Starbucks stores, meaning graduates achieve recognised diplomas such as BTS “Management des unités commerciales” or Licence professionnelle “Management d’un point de vente”.

The success of this programme has now seen the scheme extended to the Paris support centre where apprentices are enrolled with the HR, Business Development or Operations teams. These apprenticeships feature a core Diploma rising to a French Masters level, which is equivalent to a university degree level and means apprentices are learning new skills whilst working and earning. Through this industry-leading scheme Starbucks can recruit, train and retain young talent for the business.

At a celebratory event for over 100 people at Starbucks Capucines store in Paris, 28 diplomas were awarded to those graduating from the programme. Graduates from the programme spoke about the value this has added to their career development within the business and what it means to achieve a recognised qualification.

Marking the event, Aurélia Chorrin, Head of HR, Starbucks France, said: ‘The 10-year anniversary event was a great opportunity for everyone to come together to celebrate the milestone. With over half of our workforce under the age of 25, we understand just how valuable additional training is for our partners. We are so proud of all those who have completed the Starbucks Apprenticeship Programme, and we look forward to helping even more future and current partners develop their skills, enhance their learning and earn diplomas through this fantastic scheme.’