Swank is key! Most young Japanese part-timers wish they worked at Starbucks

Japan has a few really helpful resources for those in search of jobs. Besides their useful Hello Work program, they have a very popular website and magazine called an, publicized by pop idol Kyary Pamyu Pamyu herself. The site lets you search want ads and find places that are hiring in your area and field of expertise. In particular, a lot of college students and people new to the workforce turn to an for help finding employment.

an recently conducted a survey of first-time part-timers to try to find out what places are happenin’ in the modern world of fresh-faced young workers. The results were interesting, to say the least. Who knew how many people longed to become a Starbucks barista??

According to this study, the Seattle sensation is the be-all and end-all of part time jobs in Japan!

The legendary coffee company topped the charts with 305 of the 1,000 twenty-something men and women saying that it was the number-one place they’d like to work part time. That’s almost a third of all hipster college-aged part-timers wishing they worked for Starbucks.

▼ That’s almost enough people to staff the thousands of shops per city block!

Reasons they cited for liking the king of coffee houses:

・It’s trendy: Those people in need of a job seemed to favor the idea of having a popular job that they could brag to their old high school buddies about.

・It’s cool: Though the drinks come in both hot and ice varieties (even when ordering in Japanese it’s “hotto” or “aisu“), nothing says you’re a cool Tokyoite like a pricey, under-sized half-caff vanilla, easy ice, with caramel and chocolate sauce on top.

・The atmosphere: The shops themselves may sometimes tend toward a cookie-cutter style that bridges even the Pacific Ocean, but that isn’t to say that Starbucks locations can’t be nice places to relax. Japan (and other Asian countries) even try to break the mold sometimes with strange buildings renovated into Starbucks shops.

・Friendly and polite staff: It may be hard to find a Starbucks that doesn’t have a line in Japan, but it’s also hard to fault the staff for it, since they’re right there snagging seats for you and your friends. Looking for seating at a Starbucks in the big city during rush hour sometimes feels like being seated at a swanky restaurant as a member of staff will pester other patrons to squeeze up, move their bags or spare a chair whenever they can. Perhaps the counter workers smile so big because they know how cool they are for snagging a Starbucks job?

▼ Hey, where’s my venti??

The an survey also asked things like expected starting wage, and Starbucks was in line with the most common prospected first-time wage of 1,000 yen (US$10 an hour). Japanese baristas make from 900 to 1,100 yen (US$9.00-11.00) an hour on average, depending on age, experience and time spent working for the company. Not bad for part-time work!

Japan is nothing if not a country that loves good service. That plus the tranquility and style of the cafes makes Starbucks the holy grail of people searching for an arubaito (part-time job). Whether it’s actually any fun or not we have no idea!

Source: NariNari.com
Top image: Oyako de Nonbirimattari , Inset images: Yahoo Blogs, Japan it Up.com
Additional info: Arubaito Taiken Hiroba

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