As delivery apps struggle with staffing shortages and a new wave of legislation that is forcing them to assume more costs for their workforce, an entire sub-industry of staffing agencies is rushing to help.
applied to be a courier for Just Eat, he was excited to become an employee. The 22-year-old union member saw the meal delivery app advertising positions in London with hourly wages, paid holidays, and sick pay, and he was instantly drawn.
It’s unclear what percentage of platform couriers in the UK are now outsourced. Just Eat has turned to Randstad to contract 6,000 of its riders and drivers working across six UK cities, and it is using another staffing agency called Stuart to provide couriers in at least two more. On-demand grocery delivery service Gorillas has also been using third-party agencies, including a startup called Ryde, to supply extra workers during peak times.
Thomas has been unable to claim sick pay, which he says Randstad only gives to couriers if they are off work for more than seven consecutive days. In October, the flexibility he had been promised also disappeared when he was mandated to work at least 50 percent of his hours during peak times—on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
Academics who study the platform economy are concerned that outsourcing’s main purpose is to shield well-known gig economy companies—which receive more scrutiny—from blame when workforce problems inevitably arise. “Subcontracting out allows them to say, ‘We don't have a relationship with this courier. We have a relationship with our subcontractor, and they take care of it,’” says Matt Cole, a researcher at Fairwork, a research group at Oxford University.
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