24,500 UAE jobs 'protected during coronavirus lockdown' by Deliveroo

Capital Economics says delivery services will be vital for the F&B sector to maintain some trading activity, to protect jobs and prevent mass closures.

Delivery services provided by Deliveroo protected more than 24,000 jobs in the UAE during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when the country was in lockdown, according to a new study.

The report by Capital Economics, commissioned by Deliveroo, reveals the critical role that delivery services had on the UAE and Kuwait restaurant sectors during the pandemic between April and June.

As the region faces potential further restrictions on the hospitality sector, the report said delivery services will be vital for the sector to maintain some trading activity, to protect jobs and prevent mass closures.

It estimates that the ability to provide delivery services has supported around 24,500 jobs in Deliveroo’s partner restaurants in the UAE, and an associated turnover of AED2.3 billion for partner restaurants between April and June.

The survey showed that Deliveroo’s partner restaurants in the country used the furlough scheme at a lower rate than the hospitality sector as a whole.

“Our survey suggests that delivery services like Deliveroo have been as important as either types of government support and government furlough schemes in keeping restaurants afloat during lockdown,” the report noted.

On average, 38 percent of employees in Deliveroo’s partner restaurants said they continued to work because of delivery services, which is higher than the 17 percent that continued to work because of government schemes, the study added.                                                                

“Delivery services have helped to keep parts of the hospitality sector operating in a challenging environment and the cost to the government would have been even higher without them. They have helped to keep more people at work in the hospitality sector which has been one of the hardest hit sectors from lockdown restrictions and changes in peoples’ behaviour,” said Capital Economics.