What does the barista salary survey reveal about coffee knowledge?

Data from 938,822 recruitment samples over the past year puts the national average monthly barista salary at about 4,200 yuan. Shanghai tops the first-tier cities at 6,024 yuan, followed by Beijing at 5,756 yuan and Shenzhen at 5,246 yuan. The figures cover four first-tier, 15 new first-tier and 30 second-tier cities.

The survey points to high staff turnover, a young age structure and gaps in professionalism and overall ability as reasons the pay stays low. Baristas who build coffee knowledge, judging skills and management experience have more room to move into head barista or shop roles as the industry keeps expanding.

The coffee industry continues to heat up, with more and more cafés opening, but what is the income level of baristas really like? According to nearly a million recruitment samples from the past year, the national average monthly salary for baristas is about 4,200 yuan, with Shanghai highest among first-tier cities at 6,024 yuan. At the same time, the age structure of practitioners, employment mobility, and the lack of professionalism and comprehensive abilities all make the pay dilemma of this profession particularly prominent. Do baristas still have room for promotion? How can the low-salary cycle be broken? This article will combine data and the current state of the industry to sort out, one by one, the real situation and development possibilities of the barista profession, and retain the relevant information channel of Front Street Coffee.

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The hot topic that sparked widespread discussion on Weibo this week was undoubtedly the release of average monthly salaries across the country. The "China Enterprise Recruitment Salary Report" for the fourth quarter of 2022 published by Zhaopin shows that the national average recruitment salary in that quarter was 10,558 yuan.

After this data was released, netizens across the country clearly could not stay calm. Many people said bluntly that those who can reach this monthly income level probably account for only 10% to 20% in each region, while the actual income of most others is probably only half of the reported figure, or even less. And after seeing this report, my first reaction was to look up the national average monthly salary of baristas.

According to 938,822 national barista sample data collected by BOSS Zhipin over the past year, the average monthly salary of baristas nationwide over the past year was 4,200 yuan. This statistic covers 4 first-tier cities, 15 new first-tier cities, and 30 second-tier cities.

Among them, the top ten cities in order are: Shanghai 6,024 yuan/month, Beijing 5,756 yuan/month, Shenzhen 5,246 yuan/month, Hangzhou 5,183 yuan/month, Suzhou 4,622 yuan/month, Nanjing 4,923 yuan/month, Ningbo 4,694 yuan/month, Guangzhou 4,495 yuan/month, Jinhua 4,428 yuan/month, Wuxi 4,335 yuan/month.

From the age distribution, practitioners under 24 years old account for as much as 78%, while those aged 25 to 29 account for 16%. In terms of work experience, those with 1 to 3 years account for 77%, while those with 3 to 5 years account for only 6%.

A previous barista survey once predicted that in 2022 the proportion of people aged 26 to 35 would rise, and might even become the largest age group. Against the backdrop of the barista group as a whole becoming younger, it shows a characteristic of gradually concentrating toward a more mature age range. In terms of salary, it was also expected at that time that the proportion earning more than 6,000 yuan per month would increase.

However, judging from the actual distribution of most barista job seekers nationwide over the past year, this prediction did not come true. On the contrary, more and more people in the mature age range chose to change careers, and the reasons behind this are mostly related to salary and room for development. With the current average monthly salary level, it is indeed difficult to support the daily expenses of practitioners in the mature age range.

The low income of baristas is almost a long-standing problem in this industry. It can be said that over the past decade baristas' wages have always hovered at a low level, even giving the feeling that if you do not advance, you fall behind. On the surface, there seems to be growth every year, but the cost of living is rising as fast as a rocket, which also makes more and more baristas feel increasingly pressured.

The coffee sector is extremely hot, and this industry has also become one of the fields investors focus on, with financing pushing chain brands to accelerate store expansion and also helping more and more consumers develop the habit of drinking coffee. So why is the average salary of baristas still so low? The reason lies in the lack of professionalism and also the lack of comprehensive ability.

There is currently a phenomenon in café recruitment: chain stores that need a large number of staff often do not value baristas' professionalism, so the salary is usually not set very high; while independent cafés that value baristas' professionalism, because of intensified competition among independent cafés in recent years and failure to adjust their business methods in time, have limited overall profitability and likewise cannot offer higher salaries.

Low pay also leads to extremely high employment mobility in this line of work, and very few people can calm down to study and delve into it under this trend and environment. Although there are many baristas, the proportion who truly possess professionalism is very low.

At the same time, such an environment also makes more and more people think that the barista profession does not require much professionalism, and that as long as you can brew coffee, that is enough, but this perception precisely limits everyone's promotion opportunities, and the final outcome is nothing more than two kinds: impulsively opening a shop without a real understanding of the coffee industry, or changing careers.

Do baristas really have no room for promotion? Obviously not, because the entire industry chain is still developing upward, it is just that more comprehensive talent is lacking. Barista is only a general term, and it does not stop at being able to brew coffee. What comprehensiveness includes is not only technical value, but also commercial value and management value.

But at present, a large number of cafés still recruit baristas according to the standard of waitstaff, only requiring them to be able to do the job, not requiring a craftsman's spirit. At the same time, the industry is also relatively backward in the education and training of baristas, and the knowledge, product content, service content, and so on required of baristas all need to be updated.

This is like an infinite loop, one link connected to another, and the current situation and salary of baristas are thus closely linked. So can baristas really not break through this situation? There is a way, but one cannot be loyal only to coffee technique.

Too many people choose the barista profession because they like drinking coffee. So after becoming baristas, everyone is very insistent on showing themselves behind the bar.

But the bar is like the boundary of the comfort zone. If you do not step out, you will never know that there are still so many interesting things in this industry. Although stepping out means facing many things you do not like, if you truly love the coffee industry, want to continue moving forward in it, and also hope to obtain a higher-paying position, then taking the step out from behind the bar becomes especially important.

Barista is only a general term; one can be a technician, an educator, or a businessperson. But no matter which one, if you want higher returns and salary, professionalism is indispensable.

(Hey, this is off topic!)

No matter what you do, you must first establish professionalism, and before starting this job, you must plan your future well, rather than taking one step and seeing what happens next.

It is not that baristas have no future, nor that they cannot make money. If from the very beginning you can put aside the "beautiful" filter about baristas and steadily seek to understand the development of the entire industry, I believe everyone can always find a position that suits them.

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.