Image credit: The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: foodpanda, Malaysia's leading online delivery platform, is helping more Malaysians who may have lost their full-time job to join the management team at one of its offices, rider fleet and even as foodpanda walkers.
foodpanda Malaysia managing director Sayantan Das said 2020 had seen the company playing a critical role in creating jobs with a mission to empower as many Malaysians as possible to earn a living through its service.
"We created over 80 positions across various functions in our offices across Malaysia and hired more than 200 new employees.
"Our rider base increased from 13,000 at the start of 2020 to over 35,000 at the end of 2020 – a 169 per cent increase," he told the New Straits Times in an interview.
Das said the company had last year introduced the foodpanda Walkers (walker option for deliveries) as its most accessible and inclusive career option.
"For the many Malaysians, young ones in particular, who do not have a vehicle or licence yet – now they have a viable option for earning a living.
"As at end December 2020, we had over 2,500 walkers across 11 states. On this front too, we hope to continue our push to expand and in turn, give more opportunities for more Malaysians to work and earn a living," he said.
Das said since last year, the company had observed an increased demand and strong adoption of its Cloud Kitchen - run by foodpanda, and pandakitchen.
He said the pick-up had been encouraging thus far, spurred on by the movement control order (MCO) which has both encouraged more established restaurants and brand new set-ups to try this less risky route to their food and beverage (F&B) business.
"We do envision that this demand will continue to grow this year even once the MCO has been lifted. The convenience and savings of the approach cannot be denied and we believe in time more F&B business owners will prefer this route especially within the small and medium enterprise (SME) market.
"This approach allows businesses to grow their market and daily orders with minimal capital expenditure, lowering operating expenses. As such demand has been overwhelming and we are focused on growing the business on this front," he said.
Das is optimistic about the company's business outlook for this year backed by its expansion plan, focusing on pandamart as there is the most room to expand.
"We believe the market has a very bright outlook for 2021. Last years' circumstances helped push the industry to a new high and accelerated digitisation from a business and user adoption perspective.
"These circumstances continue to exist this year and now with a market of businesses and users that are more open to transact digitally, we are confident of an equally impressive 2021," he added.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/business/2021/03/675936/foodpanda-help-malaysians-who-lost-full-time-jobs