Starbucks launches jobs drive as restrictions ease
STARBUCKS is hiring another 400 staff as the cafe chain is buoyed by the easing of the Government’s pandemic restrictions.
The company – which said it did not make any redundancies or take furlough support when Covid struck – said it is recruiting across the UK in anticipation of a busy summer’s trading.
The positions will be available across almost 200 sites including city centres, high streets and drivethrough locations as Starbucks builds up its workforce to deal with higher demand.
Bosses said their hiring campaign will fill primarily “natural vacancies” from staff choosing to leave the business who were not replaced while it was restricted by coronavirus curbs.
Starbucks currently employs 3,664 staff across the country.
The chain expanded its drivethrough and delivery options over the last year to meet increased demand in those sectors while sit in customers were restricted by public health policy.
It said that around 98 per cent of its estate is currently operational.
Locations where the new jobs have been created include Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Dundee, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Winchester. Alex Rayner, general manager at Starbucks UK, said: “It has been incredibly difficult to be a high street retailer in the last year.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has placed operating restrictions on our business which have impacted our profitability dramatically.
“But our priority the entire time has been to keep our people employed, avoid making redundancies in our company-operated stores and be prepared to safely reopen as restrictions ease.”
She added: “That’s why I’m really pleased we are now in a position to rebuild our workforce by offering 400 jobs as we are optimistic about the future of the business.”
The company was founded 50 years ago in Seattle, USA.
It is now the world’s largest coffeehouse company with more than 32,000 locations.