The new centers will offer training, customer service and retail items and will be rolled out periodically, concluding with the last center open for business by 2018. The new Starbucks will aim to hire 20 to 25 employees in the distressed neighborhoods and provide training for “hundreds of young people” at each store.
Employees at Starbucks who work more than 20 hours a week are given medical benefits and have an opportunity to earn a four-year degree at Arizona State University through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. Starbucks has also committed to hiring 100,000 “opportunity youth” workers--those aged 16-24 with limited education and job prospects--by 2018.