If you see a Starbucks barista filming while making your drink, don’t assume they’re goofing off. Starbucks could be paying them to make a TikTok.

Starbucks baristas have posted content on social media for years, showing off experimental recipes, making “ASMR” videos featuring the sounds of making drinks, and lip syncing to popular clips with their co-workers.

If you’re not on social media, some of that might sound pretty strange. But content like that has been driving a wave of Gen Z engagement with the Seattle-headquartered coffee giant.

Starting this summer, the company says baristas can earn a direct cut of the ad revenue, as long as their videos are Starbucks approved.

“Every day, our partners (employees) bring Starbucks to life by creating moments of connection with our customers and with each other,” Erin Silvoy, Starbucks’ senior vice president of global marketing said in a TikTok news release. “And more than ever, they are sharing those moments with the world on social media in authentic, creative, and unique ways.”

The Starbucks and TikTok partnership comes amid a major shift in brand marketing, as more companies turn to their own employees to generate content rather than pursuing traditional corporate marketing.

Starbucks will be the first brand to pilot a program through what TikTok calls its Custom Creator Network, according to the news release.

Starbucks already had a Green Apron Creators program that recruited employees to make social media content. But this new pilot program builds on that by connecting participants with TikTok’s creator platform and monetization tools.

The company will select certain employees and send them content ideas to turn into TikToks. If Starbucks likes the video and wants to promote it, it can turn that employee’s post into a paid TikTok ad.

When the program launches, only baristas who are already part of the Green Apron Creators program will be able to earn money from their TikToks. But a Starbucks spokesperson confirmed the company will consider opening the TikTok content program to more baristas depending on its success.

“On TikTok, some of the most compelling brand stories come from the people who know a brand best,” Andy Yang, TikTok’s global head of creative and brand products, said in a Starbucks news release.

Although baristas are the face of this newest marketing strategy, some are pushing back on the initiative.

Starbucks Workers United, which represents thousands of Starbucks baristas, has fought for a contract with the company over the last two years, demanding better wages and working conditions.

“Rather than listening to baristas’ voices at the bargaining table and settling a fair contract, Starbucks is attempting to sanitize their reputation by paying baristas to say nice things instead of paying them what they deserve,” Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks barista and union spokesperson, wrote in an email.

In addition to content creation, Starbucks launched another way for baristas to earn money in April.

Baristas can earn an extra $1,200 annually if their stores meet and exceed sales, operational and customer service goals, according to an announcement.

©2026 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.