Business & Money | Friday 15 March, 2019 4:00 am |

Following the great success and the positive response of the “Opportunity Cafe" and the “Pathway to a job” workshop programs, Starbucks Saudi Arabia and Education for Employment (EFE) have announced the launch of the 4th wave of the programs this March across KSA.

During the past year, Starbucks and EFE have conducted 54 Opportunity Café workshops across ten stores in three cities in KSA, benefitting 640 young Saudi individuals; and 4 Pathways to a Job workshops in four universities across three cities in KSA, training over 186 students.

This youth-centric initiative from Starbucks is in line with its national advocacy campaign that engages community stakeholder groups and Saudi youth. Both “Opportunity Café” and “Pathways to a Job” programs are aimed at training and empowering the youth in Saudi Arabia to find the right job opportunity in the most professional way.

Each program is thoughtfully designed to make young Saudi males and females professionally capable and equipped to take on the job market. These free programs are hosted at Starbucks coffee chain most frequented and favoured by the youth. Upon completion, candidates are awarded a certificate that adds a lot of value to their resume.

Talking about the progress of the Opportunity Café and Pathways to a Job programs, Rana Shaheen, Regional Communications and CSR Manager, Starbucks Middle East said: “We are extremely happy with the progress and the way both these programs have been received by the youth of Saudi Arabia. It is certain from the response that the youth find these workshops immensely useful and are eager to learn and take charge of their career. The program, has managed to train and make a difference to many youth and students and will continue to do so in the future.”  

Amr Abdallah, Director of Gulf Programs at EFE-Global added: “It is great to see that the ‘Opportunity Café’ and ‘Pathways to a Job’ programs are helping the Saudi youth and students match up to the global employment standards and requisites, guiding them to constructive careers in the service sector. We will continue to empower them with newer perspectives and a better understanding of workplace challenges and expectations along with Starbucks, partner in success."

Opportunity Café, targeted to the Saudi youth, offers professional soft skill-building workshops on employability while addressing the key aspects of youth development, right from CV writing to facing interviews, helping the youth in shaping their careers. The training workshops will be conducted by highly qualified professionals at Starbucks stores in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam on 25 March 2019. Interested candidates can register on Starbucks website

Pathways to a Job is a youth awareness and development program that offers university students focused training and workshops that help them hone the skills that are essential for their first job in the real world.  The workshops will be conducted in the university campuses across Saudi Arabia starting from March.

This strategic partnership between Starbucks KSA and Education for Employment (EFE) highlights Starbucks' commitment to empower Saudi youth across the Kingdom as a key focus of the brand's growth strategy and emphasizes the joint efforts of the two organizations to raise investment in the Saudi career building field by providing opportunities for education, training and employment. Starbucks Saudi Arabia will continue to provide its partners (employee) with the tools and expertise that help them enhance their skills and career pathways, in order to deliver their inspirational message to their customers and to the community.