Deliveroo to cut 9% of its workforce as mass tech giant jobs cull continues

Deliveroo is to slash 9% of its workforce – around 350 staff – becoming the latest tech giant to announce a cull.

The meal and food delivery firm said roles “at all levels of the company” will be impacted.

Will Shu, Deliveroo’s co-founder and chief executive, said the firm needed to “accelerate a clear path to profits.”

In a message to staff, he also admitted the company had grown too fast and had failed to anticipate the scale of a recent downturn.

Deliveroo, like many other tech firms, went on a hiring spree as they grew rapidly. Business boomed during Covid lockdowns.

But Deliveroo, like others, has been hit as cost of living impacted customers cut back.

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Mr Shu said: “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.

“We have also recently exited markets, meaning we do not require the same size workforce to support our operations.

“Quite bluntly, our fixed cost base is too big for our business.”

He went on: “I’m sorry that we have to do this. Some of our close friends and talented colleagues will leave Deliveroo as part of this and it pains me that we have to do it.

“I have been through one of these processes once before. “I said then that it was the hardest thing I’d ever done, and this is just as bad.

“But however much it pains me, I know it’s nothing compared to how those impacted will be feeling.”

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Deliveroo confirmed that riders would not be impacted by the job losses.

It added that the number of job losses was expected to be closer to 300 after redeployments.

Deliveroo’s offices were closed ahead of the announcement, with staff told through one-to-one and team video meetings.

It came a day after video conferencing firm Zoom said it was laying off 1,300 staff.

Amazon and Google parent company Alphabet are among others to announce big job cuts, saying the boom in business they saw during the pandemic was ending.

Research suggests more than 300 tech firms have laid off nearly 100,000 workers globally since the start of the year.

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