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Shop assistants

How to become a Cafe Staff Member

Official title: Cafe Staff

Also called: Coffee shop sales assistant

Makes and serves coffee and other drinks and light meals in a cafe, works the till and cleans.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school or university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. The work is done standing, so a certain level of fitness is needed, and you need to serve customers in a way that suits the cafe's atmosphere. You also need to handle food hygiene and money. As a career path for permanent staff, you join a company that runs cafes and become a manager after working in several cafes. After that you may become a supervisor at a franchise chain's head office, advising each cafe on how to run its business, or a senior employee of the company. Cafe chains have two kinds of outlet: company-run outlets operated directly by the cafe company, and franchise outlets run by owners who have signed a franchise agreement. At franchise outlets the owner is sometimes also the manager.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Cafe Staff Member?

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. The work is done standing, so a certain level of fitness is needed, and you need to serve customers in a way that suits the cafe's atmosphere. You also need to handle food hygiene and money. As a career path for permanent staff, you join a company that runs cafes and become a manager after working in several cafes. After that you may become a supervisor at a franchise chain's head office, advising each cafe on how to run its business, or a senior employee of the company. Cafe chains have two kinds of outlet: company-run outlets operated directly by the cafe company, and franchise outlets run by owners who have signed a franchise agreement. At franchise outlets the owner is sometimes also the manager.

How much does a Cafe Staff Member earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥3,847,600 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Shop assistants, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Cafe Staff Member?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 21% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Junior college (短期大学) programme.

Will AI change the work of a Cafe Staff Member?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026