SkipTheDishes delivers layoffs Company slashing 800 corporate, operations jobs, including many at Winnipeg HQ
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/08/2024 (438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
SkipTheDishes is drastically reducing its Canadian workforce, which likely means sizable job losses in Winnipeg.
The online delivery service company announced Tuesday morning 100 corporate and 700 operations employees will be laid off.
Company officials would not agree to interviews, but the Free Press was assured its Winnipeg office (and Toronto and Calgary offices) would remain open and its Canadian headquarters would remain in Winnipeg.
Its food delivery operations are not expected to be affected.
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One Skip employee who was among those laid off Tuesday said they believed many departments were affected.
Another, who asked his name not be used, said some were told the customer contact business being done in Winnipeg will be outsourced overseas. That information could not be immediately confirmed.
The company, which was founded in Winnipeg in 2012, has always been cagey about disclosing the size of its workforce in the city.
It was estimated Skip had more than 2,000 employees in Winnipeg in 2019, when it moved into four floors of the new True North Square office building.
However, a company post on LinkedIn verified in June 2023 states the company had “more than 2,000” employees across Canada, not including food-delivery workers, including its offices in Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary and Montreal.
“Executives most often use LinkedIn to share good news stories about their companies. Today, I’m sharing some difficult news: following a comprehensive review, we are restructuring our business and reducing the size of our workforce,” CEO Paul Burns said in a LinkedIn post Tuesday morning.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Toronto-based SkipTheDishes CEO Paul Burns at a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce event in March. He shared ‘some difficult news’ for employees Tuesday.
“This move affects approximately 100 Canadian market employees, along with 700 operations employees servicing the global Just Eat Takeaway.com organization based out of Canada.”
The Toronto-based Burns has been in the position since October. When he was appointed, it marked the company’s third CEO in one year.
“It’s tough,” said Luke Tokaryk, a photographer who lost his job Tuesday in the marketing department after seven years with Skip.
He also acknowledged it had been rewarding work experience, although volatility in 2023 with three different CEOs caused some unsettledness.
Tokaryk said he was “not upset” with his severance package, that includes four weeks of medical insurance coverage and 18 weeks of compensation.
Another Skip employee said there are some who received layoff notices Tuesday but who are required to work until November, in order to receive their full compensation.
SkipTheDishes was acquired by British company Just Eat plc for about $200 million at the end of 2016. It went on to merge with Dutch company Takeaway.com in 2020 to form Just Eat Takeaway.com.
It acquired U.S. food-delivery company GrubHub for US$7.3 billion in 2021. Various reports have said it has been trying to sell GrubHub since 2022.
In the years after Skip’s acquisition, a significant number of its Winnipeg employees worked on operational support for the parent company’s international operations.
A statement by the company Tuesday said the 700 operations people who will be laid off are “servicing the global Just Eat Takeaway.com business based out of Canada.”
Just Eat Takeaway.com has online food-delivery operations in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and United States.
Early player
Skip was one of the early players in the online food delivery concept and helped put Winnipeg on the map as a burgeoning tech centre.
Kelly Fournel, CEO of Tech Manitoba, said the company “is massively involved” in the Manitoba sector.
Justin Douglas, Skip commercial finance director, is on Tech Manitoba’s board. Fournel said the company just renewed its membership in the organization.
“They are active on our youth mentorship education program, PTEC (Pembina Trails Early College). Last year, they were a key sponsor for Manitoba Tech Week and we would like to hope that they will be just as involved with Tech Week that comes up next February,” she said.
While the on-line food delivery business is on the way to becoming a trillion-dollar international sector, competition is intense and margins are slim.
Just Eat Takeaway.com’s North American revenue was down 20 per cent for the first half of this year compared with the same time in 2022. The company recently exited the New Zealand market and intends to exit the French market.
“Re-orgs are hard,” Fournel said. “You would like to think leadership does them with positive things in mind to help the organization to pivot to whatever the head-winds are so that they can be that much more resilient going forward.”
Ryan Kuffner, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, said he feels for everyone affected.
“The need to reduce a workforce is a challenging one for any business, but we know SkipTheDishes has deep roots here and they remain committed to their headquarters in Winnipeg,” he said.
“EDW has been working with SkipTheDishes since the early days as a start-up, and we will continue to support them and their future opportunities in Winnipeg.”
Shaun Jeffrey, executive director of Manitoba Restaurants & Foodservices Association, said Skip’s downsizing might be another indication of the restaurant industry’s post-pandemic struggles.
He added Skip has been supportive of his organization and its members’ primary delivery partner. “It is unfortunate that Manitobans are losing their jobs but Skip has been an amazing partner of ours for many years.”
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
History
Updated on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 5:05 PM CDT: Full write thru with comments, reaction.
Updated on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 5:29 PM CDT: Adds upper-case "T" to all company references