Key facts
- Starbucks plans to hire 7,500 baristas over five years, focused on the Midlands, northern England, Wales and Scotland.
- The roles are expected to staff 500 new UK coffee shops the company hopes to open by 2031.
- Starbucks employs more than 18,000 people in the UK, according to the report.
- Darren King, who runs Starbucks UK, said the company wants entry-level roles to be as accessible as possible.
Starbucks said on November 9, 2026 that it plans to hire 7,500 baristas over the next five years, with the roles expected to staff 500 new coffee shops it hopes to open across the UK by 2031. The US coffee chain, which employs more than 18,000 people in the UK, said the hiring would focus on the Midlands, the north of England, Wales and Scotland.
Darren King, who runs Starbucks UK, said the company was "deeply focused on how we can help more young people into these positions, starting by making entry-level roles as accessible as possible." The plan was set out earlier in 2026, after Starbucks shut dozens of underperforming UK outlets in 2025 as part of a $1 billion global restructuring.
The report placed the announcement against a record high above 1 million young people not in education, employment or training at the start of the year. It also cited a KPMG and Recruitment & Employment Confederation survey, compiled by S&P Global, showing permanent UK job placements fell in October for the first time in four months, with temporary recruitment also down. Jon Holt, chief executive and UK senior partner of KPMG, said employers had pulled back on hiring in the month before the budget.