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Friday 5
A positive takeaway
18 February, 2021
A few years back, Uber revolutionised the transportation industry and was a driving force in the growth of the gig economy. Today, our client, Just Eat Takeaway, is reimagining how jobs that are traditionally in the gig economy can be better for workers.
By the end of 2021, Just Eat plans to employ 4,500 delivery people directly on full time contracts in France and at least 1,000 delivery people in the UK, starting with London. These contracts provide hourly wages to the drivers and many of the benefits currently out of reach for the 3 million people who work in the gig economy, including pension contributions, holidays, sick pay and parental leave.
At a time when the market for food delivery services is increasing, and amid growing concerns over the conditions for gig economy workers, Jitse Groen, CEO of Just Eat Takeaway, has made his intent clear: “We’re a large multinational company with quite a lot of money and we want to insure our people. We want to be certain they do have benefits, that we do pay taxes on those workers.”
This model is a stark departure from what we’ve grown accustomed to and demonstrates that there is no need for a trade-off between flexibility – so valued by drivers – and employment security. It is great to see Just Eat Takeaway speak out and act on such important issues, and we hope that this is just the beginning of an industry-wide shift that properly values the workers that bring food to our doors.
By Marie Guérinet