Target-owned delivery service company Shipt says it wants to add 100,000 additional workers to help shop orders during the busy holiday season.
The move comes as some workers plan a walkout later this month to push back on changes to how they are paid.
Shipt on Wednesday said it is actively recruiting workers to shop and deliver groceries and other necessities to customers’ homes. The increase in “shoppers” will be in all markets where the company operates but with a particular focus on the Twin Cities, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Mich., New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago.
The new hires would push the number of Shipt’s shoppers, who are contract workers, to over 300,000. The company doubled the number to 200,000 in the spring.
“We’re embarking on a holiday season like none before, and taking proactive steps to ensure we can help American families get everything on their holiday list — groceries, essentials, gifts, home decor and apparel — in a safe, affordable, convenient way,” said Shipt CEO Kelly Caruso in a statement.
Like many other delivery companies, business has been booming for Shipt since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.
Caruso said last month that order volume nearly tripled during April, May and June compared with the same time last year. Target saw revenue on orders fulfilled by Shipt grow more than 350% year over year in its second fiscal quarter.
At the same time it was increasing its number of workers, Shipt also was instituting numerous changes to its business model, including how they were paid.
Previously, Shipt shoppers were paid using a well-known formula that was mostly based on the total cost of an order. The new pay model, which was rolled out last month, was created to calculate “effort” and considers factors such as estimated drive time, the number of items in the order and whether it was during peak shopping windows, Shipt has said.
However, groups of workers have pushed back on the new pay structure saying that it has led to less transparency and decreases in pay. Shoppers have also begun to submit letters to Caruso to express their dissatisfaction with the changes.
“Cutting pay for essential workers during a pandemic is reprehensible,” said a collective of Shipt workers that posted as “Shipt Shoppers” on Medium.com. “These are the workers so many have relied on to shelter in place and stay safely at home throughout the pandemic, and they are now getting shafted by Shipt and its parent company, Target. Meanwhile, they have profited exponentially off these workers’ backs.”
Groups of shoppers plan to stage a “walkout” and not accept orders from Oct. 17 to Oct. 19. Workers plan to read letters from disgruntled colleagues outside Target’s headquarters in Minneapolis. Shipt’s main offices are in Birmingham, Ala., and San Francisco.
Shipt fulfills online orders and delivers for nearly 120 retailers across the United States, including Party City, Bed Bath & Beyond and Buybuy Baby.
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