Deliveroo cuts 350 jobs as founder Will Shu blames cost rises
Deliveroo cuts 350 jobs as founder Will Shu blames cost rises and says he should not have expanded so quickly during Covid lockdown
- Delivery firm founder Will Shu told staff that it will cut nine per cent of roles
- It is understood the majority of the cuts will affect UK-based employees
Deliveroo plans to axe about 350 roles amid a slowdown in the number of people ordering takeaways and ‘serious and unforeseen economic headwinds’.
The delivery firm’s founder Will Shu told staff on Thursday that it will cut nine per cent of roles as it became the latest tech business to cut jobs. It is understood the majority of the cuts will affect UK-based employees.
Deliveroo said it expects the total number of workers to be made redundant to be ‘closer to 300’ due to redeployments elsewhere in the business as Mr Shu said: ‘The world we operate in has changed.’
‘In recent years we grew our headcount very quickly,’ he said. ‘This was a response to unprecedented growth rates supported by Covid-related tailwinds.
‘By contrast, we now face serious and unforeseen economic headwinds.
Shares in Deliveroo were 2.5 per cent lower at 86.73p on Thursday afternoon (file photo)
‘Quite bluntly, our fixed cost base is too big for our business.’
The founder and chief executive officer told workers the cuts were ‘my responsibility’ reflecting that he should have ‘had a more balanced approach to headcount growth’.
Mr Shu added: ‘The objective of today’s proposed changes is to deliver a permanent shift towards increased efficiency, reduced friction in our structures and increased speed of decision-making to enable us to navigate an uncertain period and emerge in a stronger position.’
He said Deliveroo will balance its growth plans and ‘reaching profitability’.
Deliveroo has rapidly expanded in recent years amid growing demand for rapid delivery, which was accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, growth has stalled more recently as customers have returned to restaurants and grocery shops.
Total order numbers fell 2 per cent across the group to 75.1 million in the final three months of 2022, the firm said last month.
Shares in Deliveroo were 2.5 per cent lower at 86.73p on Thursday afternoon.
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