TORONTO – SkipTheDishes and its parent company are laying off about 800 Canadian employees.
About 100 Canada-based employees will leave SkipTheDishes, the food delivery service’s CEO, Paul Burns, announced on LinkedIn on Tuesday.
At the same time, around 700 employees of the owner Just Eat Takeaway.com would also lose their jobs, he added.
“Decisions that impact people’s jobs are never simple or easy. However, the actions we have taken are necessary to ensure we have the right resources and organizational structure to drive sustainable growth,” he said.
“A more focused approach will also ensure that we continue to deliver an enhanced offering to our customers and exceptional service to all our stakeholders.”
The cuts come about a year after SkipTheDishes’ top job was handed to Burns, who ran Twitter Canada before the company was bought by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk, who laid off a significant portion of the workforce.
The company acquired by Burns had spent the previous years navigating a new ownership structure and dealing with a health crisis.
SkipTheDishes, long headquartered in Winnipeg and in existence since 2012, was acquired for $110 million in December 2016 by Just Eat, which merged with Takeaway.com in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic raged.
Measures to contain the virus led to the temporary closure of many businesses and forced people to spend more and more time at home. Not being able to go out was seen as a boon for food delivery services, which people increasingly used for comfort and convenience during the crisis.
However, as pandemic restrictions eased, both inflation and interest rates soared, putting pressure on consumers and forcing many to look for ways to reduce their spending.
SkipTheDishes laid off approximately 350 Winnipeg-based employees in 2022, mostly in remote contact center roles.
The company said the decision was the result of a “comprehensive review of its global logistics workforce” aimed at identifying changes that would “optimally position the company and its partners for sustainable growth.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 20, 2024.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
