The Chinese food delivery market is exploding due to the suffering of shippers

Food delivery services Meituan and Ele.me employ more than 10 million workers, but working conditions are harsh and have not improved.

China’s food delivery market is expanding at a rapid pace even after the Covid-19 pandemic ends. According to estimates by research firm iiMedia, the Chinese food delivery market will have a scale of 1.5 trillion yuan (208 billion USD) in 2023, 2.3 times more than in 2020. However, this industry is under construction. built on the sweat and sweat of delivery staff (shippers) with meager salaries, low benefits and no other support measures.

Meituan’s delivery staff are crowded into office parks in Guangzhou. (Photo: Nikkei)

Lunch time on weekdays, it is easy to see blue shirts – the uniform of Ele.me delivery staff and yellow – Meituan’s uniform at office areas in Guangzhou. Food delivery services in China boomed during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Thanks to the low cost, only 5 yuan to receive food within 30 minutes, the service has taken deep roots and is growing day by day.

Guolian Securities predicts that the market could exceed 2.2 trillion yuan by 2030. Along with that, the delivery force continues to increase. Meituan said it recruited 6.2 million shippers in 2022, from 2.7 million in 2018. Ele.me has a delivery army of more than 4 million people from May 2022 to September 2023.

While food delivery has become a part of everyday life, delivery workers face difficult working conditions.

Lu, 19, a Meituan shipper in Guangzhou, earns 7 yuan for each successfully delivered order. Despite processing about 30 applications a day, Lu takes home just over 4,000 yuan a month after deducting dormitory rent and other expenses, equivalent to or slightly less than working at a nearby factory. .

After graduating from high school, Lu delivered goods for about 6 months. He planned to quit his job and return to his hometown in Guangdong for a month.

“I am only allowed 2 days off per month and cannot visit home,” Lu said. “This job is very difficult.”

In a 2021 survey conducted by a Beijing-based nonprofit of more than 300 delivery workers in cities across China, about 40% said they did not have a single day off during the month. Long working hours and low wages are problems they face.

The social safety net is considered inadequate as many shippers do not have contracts, health insurance or unemployment insurance. Although Meituan and Ele.me both advertise attractive benefits, it seems that is not enough. At the National People’s Congress in March 2023, some delegates proposed improving working conditions for delivery staff.

For example, platforms like Meituan are being called on to change the algorithms they use to pressure shippers to deliver goods quickly. Since then, the Chinese government has increased oversight by instructing companies to protect the rights of delivery workers.

(Theo Nikkei)