Iceland hires 3,000 workers to keep up with online delivery demand
Iceland has created more than 3,000 new jobs as the supermarket seeks to meet the surging demand for home deliveries created by the coronavirus lockdown.
The budget supermarket announced this afternoon demand for deliveries increased four-fold after the lockdown was announced, with online shopping orders jumping 300 per cent since August last year.
Iceland said it will hire additional delivery drivers as well as expanding the supporting in-store teams.
The supermarket will increase its delivery fleet by 30 per cent, saying it sees no signs that the home delivery boom will slow down as it approaches the crucial Christmas trading period.
Iceland has also partnered with Ubereats to deliver groceries to London customers from its Hackney supermarket within 20 minutes
Iceland Foods chief customer and digital officer David Devany said: “We’ve been blown away by the demand for deliveries over the past six months with a four-fold increase in online orders since the beginning of lockdown.
“We see no sign of a slowdown in the demand for deliveries in the run up to Christmas, so a recruitment drive for more permanent staff was essential.
“Our store and delivery colleagues have gone above and beyond during lockdown introducing incredible measures to help their local communities, and I’m proud that our business has been able to adapt to the changing needs of our customer.”