Lieferando to cut 2,000 food delivery jobs in Germany
The reduction amounts to roughly 20% of the company's entire fleet, said Lieferando, which is part of the Dutch multinational Just Eat Takeaway group.
The reason for the cuts is a shift in the company's delivery model: going forward, it will increasingly rely on subcontractors for so-called "last-mile" delivery.
"The competitive landscape and the market are changing faster and more fundamentally than ever," said Lennard Neubauer, Lieferando's Germany chief, in an interview with dpa. "Customers expect reliable service and short delivery times."
In some areas, this can no longer be guaranteed under the current set-up, he said.
In particular, Lieferando will partner with specialized logistics firms to handle deliveries in smaller markets such as Wiesbaden, Lübeck and Bochum, Neubauer added.
The same approach will be taken in Hamburg, which because of the city's size will be hit especially hard.
Lieferando points out that working with subcontractors is common practice in the market, saying rivals such as Uber Eats and Wolt also operate this way. Many of their riders work as freelancers, a setup that labour advocates say can lead to exploitative conditions.
Lieferando's approach of employing riders directly had long been welcomed by labour representatives, making the backlash to this partial outsourcing all the more likely.
Germany's Food, Beverages and Catering Union has spent years pushing for a collective agreement for Lieferando employees, including a minimum wage of €15 ($17) per hour. With parts of the delivery business now moving to third-parties, the union will likely find it more difficult to fight for uniform working conditions.
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