Deliveroo Singapore hired 1,000 riders in April amid food delivery surge during Covid-19

FOOD delivery platform Deliveroo Singapore on Monday said it added about 1,000 riders to its delivery fleet in April alone and expects to hire another 2,000 riders by the end of the second quarter.

This comes amid a surge in demand for food delivery services during the Covid-19 pandemic, as consumers stay home to help curb the spread of the virus.

The additional manpower Deliveroo Singapore hired this month has increased its rider fleet from 6,000 in the first quarter to more than 7,000 now.

Nearly 5,000 rider applications were received in the first quarter this year, 30 per cent higher than the number of applications received in the fourth quarter last year, it said.

The company added that its rider numbers have grown to support the increase in the number of restaurants that have transitioned from dine-in to delivery and takeaway during this "circuit-breaker" period.

Since January, 700 new restaurants have joined the firm, with another 200 expected to be added in the next two weeks, Deliveroo Singapore said.

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The company noted that it is closely monitoring rider figures to "avoid an oversupply of riders and to protect rider earnings".

In a press statement on Monday, Deliveroo said that the highest amount a rider earned in March was S$7,095, "demonstrating the earning potential of being a Deliveroo rider in Singapore".

According to Deliveroo's 2019 Annual Rider Survey, the company's riders in Singapore are young, with nearly half under 25 years old. Nearly three-quarters, or 72 per cent, ride part-time with Deliveroo and have at least one other source of income.

Separately, media reports have recently noted that the UK competition watchdog has provisionally backed Amazon's investment in London-headquartered Deliveroo, after the startup warned that it could otherwise go bust.

Deliveroo first announced the US$575 million funding round led by Amazon in May last year, but the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was initially worried that the deal could be bad for competition.

"Deliveroo recently informed the CMA that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business meant that it would fail financially and exit the market without the Amazon investment," the UK regulator said, according to a Bloomberg report.