Takeaway delivery service Deliveroo is planning to axe up to 350 jobs mostly in the UK as families cut down on treats amid the cost of living crisis.
Around nine per cent of Deliveroo's workforce will be cut as founder Will Shu said a slowdown in the number of people who are ordering takeaways meant that the company's fixed cost base was too big. It is understood the majority of the cuts will affect the company's UK employees.
Demand for takeaways boomed during the pandemic as restaurants were closed, and Deliveroo orders doubled to 149m by August 2021. As well as employees, Deliveroo has about 100,000 self-employed drivers and riders in 12 countries. In June 2021, the UK Court of Appeal confirming that UK riders are self-employed.
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Deliveroo was founded by Will Shu and Greg Orlowski in 2013 in London, and now operates in France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait as well as the UK. It formerly operated in Germany, Taiwan, Spain, the Netherlands, and Australia.
The company makes revenue by charging restaurants a commission fee, as well as by charging customers a per-order fee for delivery. Customers place orders through its app or website, then bicycle or motorcycle couriers transport orders from restaurants to them.
The company has said that the number of workers to be made redundant to be ‘closer to 300’. Founder Will Shu said: "‘The world we operate in has changed. In recent years we grew our headcount very quickly. This was a response to unprecedented growth rates supported by Covid-related tailwinds. By contrast, we now face serious and unforeseen economic headwinds. Our fixed cost base is too big for our business.’
Deliveroo is the latest tech-focused business to reveal cuts following companies including the Facebook-owner Meta, Google, Microsoft, Snapchat and Twitter.
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