The food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway is cutting its workforce in France in order to reverse its recent downturn.
The merger of Just East and Takeaway.com took place in 2020. A $7.3 billion all-stock transaction that took the better part of a year to complete was announced shortly after. Many investment dollars were thrust toward helping people live better in a socially-isolated world as a result of this food delivery consolidation push.
Many businesses that boomed due to the Pandemic are facing a correction as things have returned to normal. It's clear that the on-demand delivery sphere has been hit hard as well, with everything from virtual events companies to at- home fitness firms impacted. There was a similar story for German company Gorillas which also announced a round of layoffs, as well as the $12 billion-valued instant delivery startup Getir, which recently revealed it was cutting 14% of its workforce in the wake of a steep expansion drive. Gopuff confirmed its second round of layoffs in the US last week.
Just Eat Takeaway is looking to trim back as it tries to grow.
Just Eat Takeaway is the leading food delivery platform in Europe, but it lags behind in France, with the former claiming close to 90 percent of the market. It's obvious that cutting back in places where it was already facing an uphill challenge is the best way to go.
The statement was issued by a Just Eat Takeaway spokesman.
Due to the challenging market dynamics in France and our ambition for sustainable profitable growth, we have the intention to restructure our operations in France. The strategic restructuring will consist of redundancies of staff in the Paris office and changes in the operations of our delivery business.
Less than a year after expanding into the U.S., Just Eat Takeaway is considering a partial or full sale of GrubHub. The company's market cap fell by more than half between when it closed the GrubHub deal and its Q1 earnings in April. Its valuation has continued to fall, now sitting at a little more than 3 billion, a staggering 84% down on its peak.
Last month, Klarna revealed its private valuation had fallen by 85% in the past year, much like Affirm which has fallen by roughly the same amount.
Just Eat Takeaway chairman Adriaan Nhn left the company in May, while COO Jrg Gerbig left the management board after being investigated for possible personal wrongdoing.
There are some signs of hope. Earlier this month, Just Eat Takeaway signed a major deal with Amazon, which will promote the food delivery service as part of its Prime membership program.
There is scope for Amazon to advance its interest in GrubHub further down the road, but the tie-up is more of a partnership at the moment.
In France, Just Eat Takeaway is in retreat for the time being.
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