Starbucks’ big India move: Coffee giant to open technology hub in Chennai. Are 800 jobs coming?

Anand Varadarajan, executive vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) of Starbucks, said the new hub would support the company’s global operations and work closely with its technology and business teams in the US and across the company.

“This hub will support our global business and work closely with technology and business teams in the U.S. and across the company,” Varadarajan said in a statement.

He added that the hub would also enable Starbucks to gradually bring some work currently handled by third-party service providers in-house.

“It will also allow us to bring more work currently performed by third-party service providers, in-house over time, strengthening the capabilities and talent needed to support our partners, coffeehouses and customers around the world,” he said.

In a letter to Starbucks partners, Varadarajan said the company was still in the early stages of setting up the facility and would begin planning for local hiring, office readiness and operational processes over the coming months.

“We expect recruiting to begin in Q1, with additional details to come as plans are finalized,” he said.

According to a report by Moneycontrol, Starbucks has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government to establish the technology hub, which is expected to create around 800 technology jobs.

Starbucks currently operates around 500 stores in India through its joint venture with Tata Consumer Products.