Starbucks Launches Open Recruitment for Disabled Baristas in Q1

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Starbucks Coffee Korea announced on the 13th that it will begin the public recruitment of baristas with disabilities for the first quarter of 2020 in collaboration with the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled.

Applicants wishing to join can submit their documents by visiting the Starbucks recruitment website or the simple Woori branch recruitment information on the Disability Employment Portal site by 5 p.m. on the 23rd, the application deadline.

After submitting the application, candidates will go through document screening and interviews, followed by introductory training and practical experience. The practical training to learn barista duties for store work is broadly divided into three types.

Applicants with mild disabilities will undergo a two-week store practice through on-site evaluation, while those with severe disabilities will participate in a supported employment type, receiving three weeks of store practice with the help of a job instructor from the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled. Lastly, applicants with both mild and severe disabilities will receive a total of five weeks of customized training, including one week of store practice at the Seoul Disability Customized Training Center.

The training is conducted according to the residence area of the successful applicants, and the final hiring decision is made after completing these specific training and practice periods.

Starbucks began actively hiring people with disabilities in 2007. In 2012, it signed an employment promotion agreement with the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled and has been recruiting baristas with disabilities quarterly. In July 2018, Starbucks signed a business agreement with the Korea Disabled Development Institute to cooperate on on-site vocational training for people with disabilities, pledging continuous job creation for them.

As a result of these efforts, as of December 2019, 409 baristas with disabilities are working at Starbucks stores nationwide. Among them, 333 are partners with severe disabilities and 76 are partners with mild disabilities. The legally mandated number of disabled partners, calculated as twice the number of those with severe disabilities, is 742, accounting for about 4.2% of the total employees. Starbucks provides equal promotion opportunities without discrimination, with a total of 51 disabled partners working at mid-manager level or higher, maintaining one of the highest employment rates for people with disabilities in the industry while continuing social contribution activities.

Meanwhile, even after hiring, a partner in charge of disability personnel management conducts regular interviews to help disabled partners adapt to barista duties and work safely, ensuring stable adjustment to their roles. As a result of these efforts, Kwon Soon-mi, Starbucks Korea’s first hearing-impaired store manager, received the Prime Minister’s Commendation as a meritorious disabled worker at the 2018 Disability Employment Promotion Conference. In 2019, Park Jong-hwan, a partner from the Partner Happiness Promotion Team responsible for disability personnel management, was awarded the Government Award for Meritorious Service in Disability Employment Promotion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.