SkipTheDishes has laid off 350 employees, with its parent company citing a need to ensure sustainable growth.
With a staff of more than 3,000 employees, according to LinkedIn, the cuts account for approximately 11 percent of SkipTheDishes’ workforce.
“Following a comprehensive review of its Global Logistics workforce, Just Eat Takeaway has made changes to the global organization.”
A spokesperson for Just Eat Takeaway confirmed the layoffs to BetaKit, and shared the following statement: “Following a comprehensive review of its Global Logistics workforce, Just Eat Takeaway has made changes to the global organization to best set the business and its partners up for sustainable growth. This includes reducing the size of its Logistics team in Canada that support multiple, global markets across the business.”
The cuts were initially reported by CTV News Winnipeg, which noted that it was Winnipeg staff that were affected.
Just Eat confirmed to BetaKit that the employees were remote team members based in Winnipeg, and likened them to “hourly, contact centre employees … that support multiple markets globally.”
SkipTheDishes was founded in 2012 in Saskatoon but has long had its headquarters in Winnipeg. According to LinkedIn, the majority (more than one-third) of SkipTheDishes’ more than 3,000-person workforce is based in Winnipeg.
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The food delivery company was acquired by United Kingdom-based Just Eat in 2016 for $110 million. Since then, Just Eat merged with fellow major food delivery company Takeaway.com in 2020. The combined company owns around 13 food delivery companies globally, including Grubhub and Foodora.
SkipTheDishes joins the list of large tech companies that have made staff cuts, citing the need to grow sustainably amid the current market conditions. Delivery companies appear to have been especially hard hit by the current market after seeing a boom during COVID-19. In the past year, some delivery startups have shut down while others are scaling back operations.
In fact, the SkipTheDishes layoffs may not be the first that Just Eat has made amid the current economic climate. Bloomberg reported in July that the company was in negotiations with unions about cutting 390 jobs in France. The roles affected were delivery staff in 26 cities across France, and 40 office staff.
The cuts were part of a restructuring as the company lagged behind competitors Uber Eats and Deliveroo in the French market. The cuts also come after a tumultuous year for Just Eats, which saw leadership changes and even considered selling Grubhub shortly after purchasing it amid a plummeting valuation.
Just Eat did not respond to BetaKit’s questions about whether the company or SkipTheDishes is considering further staff cuts.
Feature image source SkipTheDishes via website.