Instacart in massive hiring blitz; hiring 54,000 in California alone
Instacart is ramping up hiring big time to meet surging demand brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
The online grocery delivery giant plans to bring on an additional 300,000 full-service shoppers during the next three months to meet escalating demand for grocery delivery and pickup in North America. Instagram expects to add 54,000 shoppers in California and 27,000 in New York. (See end of article for a breakdown of Instagram’s hiring plans by key states.)
Instacart has partnerships with more 350 national, regional and local retailers across North America, including Albertsons, Aldi, Costco, Kroger, Loblaw, Publix, Sam's Club, Walmart Canada, Wegmans and others to deliver from more than 25,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. In the last few weeks, its year-over-year order volume has grown by more than 150%, with average customer basket size increasing by 15%.
"The last few weeks have been the busiest in Instacart's history and our teams are working around the clock to reliably and safely serve all members of our community,” said Apoorva Mehta, founder and CEO, Instacart. As more people look for immediate, flexible earnings opportunities during this time, we hope that Instacart can be an additional source of income for those looking to earn while also delivering for the communities in which they live."
Instacart has introduced a number of guidelines, resources, and new features to support the health and safety of all Instacart shoppers. These include a new “leave at my door delivery” option, which was used in nearly 40% of all orders last week.
Other features include:
• New shopper health & safety guidelines — Instacart shoppers now have access to a robust set of guidelines, developed in close partnership with a panel of health and safety experts, to ensure they have the resources they need to shop safely.
• Sick pay for in-store shoppers — All Instacart part-time employees now have access to sick pay, an accrued benefit that can be used as paid time off if they are absent from work due to illness or injury.
• Extended pay for part-time employees & full-service shoppers affected by COVID-19 — Instacart is offering up to 14 days of pay for any part-time employee — including in-store shopper, shift lead, site manager, or Instacart Care agent — or full-service shopper who is diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed in individual mandatory isolation or quarantine, as directed by a local, state, or public health authority.
• Health & safety supplies for shoppers — Over the last few weeks, Instacart has been taking proactive measures to maintain a safe environment for shoppers nationwide, including working closely with local teams to provide cleaning supplies for in-store shoppers and staging areas. Additionally, the company has secured hand sanitizer to distribute to shoppers across the community with more supplies available in the coming days and weeks.
• Automatically canceling out of stock orders — If a customer's entire order is out of stock, the order will be automatically canceled and the customer will be notified.
• Mobile checkout available everywhere — All shoppers in the U.S. can now use Apple Pay or Google Pay to pay at the register.
Instacart operates in more than 5,500 cities. Here a review of its hiring plans in the states with the largest opportunities:
• California: Instacart expects to bring on 54,000 new full-service shoppers
• New York: Instacart expects to bring on 27,000 new full-service shoppers
• Texas: Instacart expects to bring on 18,000 new full-service shoppers
• Florida: Instacart expects to bring on 15,000 new full-service shoppers
• Illinois: Instacart expects to bring on 15,000 new full-service shoppers
• Pennsylvania: Instacart expects to bring on 12,000 new full-service shoppers
• Virginia: Instacart expects to bring on 12,000 new full-service shoppers
• New Jersey: Instacart expects to bring on 12,000 new full-service shoppers
• Georgia: Instacart expects to bring on 9,000 new full-service shoppers
• Ohio: Instacart expects to bring on 9,000 new full-service shoppers
"U.S. grocers have served as the backbone of the communities they operate in for decades,” said Suzanne Clark, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Instacart is serving as a critical lifeline for millions of people and hundreds of businesses during these uncertain times. They're not only connecting people from all 50 states to the groceries and goods they so desperately need, but they're also stepping in to support the economy by unlocking much-needed earnings opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people who can no longer rely on their previous incomes."