Riders and operations staff receive career coaching and job-matching assistance
Singapore's labour movement has stepped in to offer assistance to former employees and riders of food delivery company Deliveroo after its closure this month.
Deliveroo shut down in Singapore on March 4, affecting all operations staff and delivery riders providing services under the organisation.
The day after its closure, the NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and the Singapore Manual & Mercantile Workers' Union (SMMWU) held a joint briefing session for retrenched Deliveroo employees in office operations and back-end support.
The session provided affected employees with clarity on their employment options, insights into the current job market, as well as information on the placement assistance services, according to the NTUC.
SMMWU Secretary-General Andy Lim added that job search assistance and career advisory support were also provided by NTUC's e2i career coaches on-site.
Union members were also provided additional support through defrayed course fees under the Union Training Assistance Programme.
Assistance for delivery riders
Meanwhile, the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), which represents delivery riders in Singapore, also engaged with Deliveroo's management regarding payment timelines for impacted riders.
They also engaged on outstanding earnings and incentives, restoration of the cash-out access, and goodwill compensation.
According to the NTUC, Deliveroo paid platform workers their earnings and incentives from February 16 to 28 within two days after March 5.
Earnings, incentives, and payments to the Central Provident Fund for orders between March 1 and 4 will be credited to riders' accounts by March 10.
NDCA also said it will assist former Deliveroo riders so they can join other platform operators, such as Grab and Foodpanda.
The association will also provide ex-riders who want to transition to full-time employment with access to career coaching, job-matching, and skills upgrading support.
Deliveroo exited the Singapore market on March 4, as announced by its parent company DoorDash in late February.
In the same announcement, the company said DoorDash will also exit Qatar. Wolt, another delivery platform under DoorDash, will also be leaving Japan and Uzbekistan.
"We've made the difficult decision to wind down operations in Qatar, Singapore, Japan, and Uzbekistan," said Miki Kuusi, Head of DoorDash International, CEO of Deliveroo, and Co-founder of Wolt, in a statement.
"Our priority is supporting our teams and partners through an orderly transition as we focus on the geographies where we can offer the best products and build for long-term success."
