Headlines

Starbucks Opens Senior-Staffed Store

Workers 50 and older run the Mexico City location

Published

7 years ago

September 10, 2018

kmpeyton

Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co. opened a new store last week that’s making headlines for its unique staffing choice: The site in Mexico City will be entirely run by 14 seniors aged 50 and older.

The decision was made in partnership with the National Institute for Older Persons (INAPAM), a government welfare program in Mexico, according to The Washington Post. The move is intended to highlight the difficulties those ages 40 and older face looking for employment, while also offering income opportunities and health care benefits. “[T]he need to keep elderly people in work exists. If the opportunity is there, I’m happy to help,” said Starbucks Mexico CEO Christian Gurria.

Mexico’s expanding population of senior citizens has become vulnerable to poverty, according to a Rand Corp. study. The study cited a lack of formal sources of income in retirement as one of the causes, along with demographic transition. Starbucks aims to employ 120 senior workers in Mexico by the end of next year.

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