MENULOG PLANS TO GROW ITS SYDNEY OFFICE WORKFORCE BY 500 PEOPLE TO MEET AUSTRALIA’S GROWING APPETITE FOR FOOD DELIVERY SERVICES

19/10/21: Business Insider Australia

• Food delivery platform Menulog says it will create 500 new office-based jobs in the coming months.
• The hiring spree comes after a reported 134 per cent increase in delivery orders in the year to June.
• Australia is the fastest-growing market for Menulog’s parent company, said managing director Morten Belling.

Food delivery platform Menulog has revealed plans to create 500 jobs in Sydney through to mid-2022, as the company prepares to cater for the nation’s growing delivery app appetite.

In a Tuesday announcement, the company said a new Macquarie Park office will eventually house its new team members, ranging from customer service representatives to managers and business support staff.

Those staff will support Menulog’s operations as it facilitates the nation’s hunger for online food orders, which the company said grew 134 per cent over the year to June.

“Australia represents the fastest growing market for our parent company, Just Eat Takeaway, as we’ve
experienced triple digit order growth year on year,” said Morten Belling, Menulog’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand.

“We have strong ambitions to accelerate this upward trend and this additional investment in customer and restaurant service plays an important role in this, as well as supporting the post-pandemic recovery of Australia’s economy.”

Some 350 roles have already been created and filled, the company said, with another 150 hires proposed for the coming months.

The announcement has been welcomed by the Restaurant & Catering Association, whose chief executive, Wes Lambert, praised Menulog’s focus on local restaurants through a “crucial economic period”.

That raft of new jobs has also been celebrated in Canberra, with Employment Minister Stuart Robert saying the initiative “couldn’t come at a better time”.

“Jobs for Australians are always welcome but it’s particularly good to see as we continue to cement our economic recovery from the impacts of the pandemic,” he added.

The tranche of new positions is the latest development in a packed year for Menulog, which was founded in Sydney nearly 15 years ago.

In May, Menulog launched a pilot program which considered some of its Sydney delivery riders as full employees — instead of independent contractors, which remains the standard model across the industry.

The initial 100-person trial has now extended to employed couriers in the Parramatta area, the company says.

The pilot program came after the tragic deaths of several delivery riders on Sydney streets over several months in 2020.

The Transport Workers Union says ride share workers face significant risks while trying to meet tight delivery schedules, while not enjoying protections like sick leave or a guaranteed minimum wage.

Menulog’s trial saw the provider break with competitors like Uber Eats and Deliveroo, both of which maintain the independent contractor model is safe, flexible, and appropriate for the sector.

The company presented a model for a delivery rider industry award to the Fair Work Commission in August, in the hopes of building a legal framework for an industry typified by variable hours and areas of work.

Submissions to the Fair Work Commission will close on 29 November, with an oral hearing set for 6 December.