Starbucks launches big jobs initiative — with a little help from its friends

Chicago -- Starbucks Corp. is ratcheting up its already significant commitment to job creation.



The coffee giant is teaming up with such other retail powerhouses as Walmart, CVS Health, Walgreens, Macy’s, Target and J.C. Penney in an ambitious jobs program to hire 100,000 16- to 24-year-olds "who face systemic barriers to jobs and education" by 2018 through apprenticeships, internships, training programs, and both part-time and full-time jobs.



The coalition efforts were spearheaded by Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, who in March committed to hiring at least 10,000 young, low-income people over the next three years. The new program, called “100,000 Opportunities Initiative,” will kick off in August, at a job fair in Chicago, where the participating companies expect to collectively train more than 2,000 youth and make at least 200 on-the-spot job offers.



The founding companies in the new initiative include CVS Health, HMSHost, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Target, Walgreens and Walmart, along with Alaska Airlines, Cintas, Hilton Worldwide, JPMorgan Chase, Lyft, Microsoft and Porch.com.



“As business leaders, I believe we have a critical role to play in hiring more Opportunity Youth and offering these young people excellent training, and the chance to dream big and reach their aspirations,” said Schultz. “The rules of engagement for philanthropy are changing. It’s not just about writing a check; rather, our approach is focused on creating a coalition of like minds with local knowledge, expertise on-the-ground and the ability to scale the social impact of an initiative like this to create pathways of opportunity for the literally millions of young people who can benefit from this program.”



Schultz has made job creation a Starbucks’ priority for some time. In 2011, the chain launched “Create Jobs for USA,” and in. In 2013, Starbucks committed to hiring at least 10,000 military veterans and their spouses by 2018.



In line with the new efforts, a foundation run by Schultz and his wife, Sheri Schultz, is contributing $30 million toward local job training and mentorship programs. In an op-ed in the New York Times on Monday, the couple wrote they were approaching the problem through the lens “of our own experiences.”



“Howard grew up in public housing in Brooklyn, where he watched his father struggle to support his family,” the couple stated. “Sheri grew up in a middle-class family in Lima, Ohio, where her father helped those who were less fortunate. We have both known countless individuals who grew up without role models or even a basic education. We have seen what is possible when these people are given a chance to succeed.”



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