In an open letter to his employees, Óscar Pierre, CEO of Glovo, one of the most powerful delivery companies in the world, has communicated the decision to lay off 250 employees (6.5% of its global workforce), of which of which 140 correspond to the company’s central services in Barcelona.
In the statement, Pierre emphasizes that the decision will primarily affect business support, recruiting and data functionsinsisting that they will not affect messengers (the popular riders), warehouse personnel or front-line employees.
Disconnected from the more than 200 million in labor sanctions that the company has accumulated until 2022 at the cost of adapting the Rider Law, Pierre insists in his letter that the reasons for the dismissal are simply due to market reasons, arguing that “the rapid growth of the company has caused inefficiencies in its operations.”
What is true, as is also included in the explanation of the CEO of Glovo, is that a “slowdown in annual growth rates” in October 2022, although he considers that “there will be strong double-digit growth in 2023”.
No less true, although Pierre maintains otherwise, is that several Social Security inspections have led to sanctions that, in our country, amount to no less than 205 million euros, including infractions for irregular contracts and settlement proceedingswhere there are also close to 37,000 workers who have been affected by breaches of the platform.
Still, the company insists on disconnect these layoffs from any irregular situations that has occurred since the implementation of what is known as the Rider Law, linking the need to lighten the company’s workforce to the growth needs of the company, alleging “inefficiency in operations”.
Pierre also cites that the 2022 results show a slowdown in demand in the fourth quarter of the year, as also justified by the external factors that affect the results of the sector, citing, among others, “the current macroeconomic situation, with the rise in interest rates and inflation…” which reduce purchasing power of consumers and, therefore, their order frequency.
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