On October 28th, a Beijing News reporter learned that Chen Zizhong, a hearing-impaired employee at Starbucks, was officially promoted to the position of Beijing Youan International Store Manager, becoming the first hearing-impaired store manager at Starbucks in China.
Before becoming a barista, Chen Zizhong was a computer modeler who worked with computers all day and had few opportunities to communicate with others. The original intention of Chen Zizhong joining Starbucks is to communicate with others, exercise his listening and speaking skills, and truly integrate into society. Even with strong internal drive, when Chen Zizhong truly started his work, he still felt frustrated, lost confidence, and even thought of giving up because he couldn't hear or speak clearly.
In July 2020, Chen Zizhong joined Beijing West Tieying Sign Language Store; In November 2020, passed the coffee master certification; In April 2021, promoted to duty supervisor due to excellent work performance; In February 2023, passed the assessment of the Deputy Store Manager (Deputy Store Manager) of Starbucks' "Star Wanted Shicheng" store with excellent results in the second place written test in the North District; In October 2023, he took over as the manager of Beijing Youan International Store and became the first hearing-impaired store in Starbucks China.
Starbucks China currently has 15 sign language stores, located in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other places. Each sign language store has more than half of its employees who are hearing impaired. To achieve unobstructed communication between store staff and customers, the store is equipped with a special ordering system, including handwritten tablets for communication, handheld menu boards, as well as auxiliary devices such as double-sided ordering display screens and intelligent voice assistants.