Just Eat Takeaway’s Swiss unit is eliminating 373 courier positions across Switzerland as it transitions away from scheduled work shifts toward a flexible logistics setup.
The reductions affect more than half of the company’s Swiss delivery fleet, estimated at about 700 staff. The company confirmed the decision after closing its formal consultation process.
The redundancy package covers 193 directly employed drivers alongside 180 agency staff working via external staffing providers, confirmed Reuters.
The dismissals hit operations across six major Swiss hubs, including Zurich, Winterthur, Bern, Biel, Fribourg and St. Gallen.
Just Eat said consultations on an accompanying social plan are ongoing to support affected workers.
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Courier Strikes And Union Pushback
The restructuring ignited immediate worker pushback over the weekend preceding the announcement. On Sunday, delivery riders organised strikes across Zurich and the neighbouring Glatt Valley, causing more than half of scheduled lunchtime and evening delivery shifts to fail.
Trade unions Unia and Syndicom condemned the job cuts, alleging that replacing salaried roles with piece-rate gig couriers risks establishing illegal bogus self-employment (Scheinselbstständigkeit). Swiss legal precedents have established split rules across language borders: drivers in French-speaking western cantons secured employee protections under court decisions, whereas freelance delivery drivers remain widely active across German-speaking cities.
Just Eat Could No Longer Withstand Intense Competition From Rivals
The food-delivery service argued that its legacy roster framework—built around set shifts planned up to two weeks ahead—could no longer withstand intense competition from rivals. Customer order patterns have dispersed widely across dayparts, extending later into late-night hours.swissinfo+2
Lukas Streich, head of Just Eat Switzerland, characterised the move as addressing a structural operating limitation rather than a minor schedule tweak. The company plans to deploy a hybrid logistics arrangement utilizing variable arrangements tailored to regional demand swings.
