The online food and delivery service has declared it will be creating over 1,500 jobs in the North-East of England over the next year.

Just Eat has revealed it will be creating thousands of customer-service jobs in Sunderland over the next 12 months as part of a £100 million investment into the region.

The Managing Director of the company, Andrew Kenny, emphasised the “importance of creating career opportunities outside of London and the South-East”.

This expansion follows the company’s decision to hire 300 customer-service employees based in Sunderland which has prompted a “very material increase in customer satisfaction scores”.

Although Mr. Kenny acknowledged that hiring in the UK may be more expensive than out-sourcing to other countries, the boss ultimately believed this approach will allow the firm to provide significantly better service.

As many other businesses have chosen to do, Just Eat have also confirmed that these new roles will entail hybrid-working, ensuring staff get to experience working from home and on-site.

Mr. Kenny further stated:

We absolutely believe in the role that the office environment plays in our culture and in driving innovation as we move forward.

But equally, we don’t want to move fully away from some of the more positive aspects that working from home has brought to people’s personal lives and family lives.

This increase to the headcount of the business comes after recent research showed that Just Eat’s services increased by 76 per cent during the first six months of lockdown, a reaction to the nationwide lockdown which saw restaurants around the UK forced to close.

This is not the first company to announce significant plans to increase the number of staff with Domino’s also seeking to recruit 5,000 employees as a result of staff shortages.

Graeme Miller, the leader of Sunderland city council, stated:

We’re thrilled to have supported Just Eat to make its move to Sunderland, joining a dynamic business community and creating jobs and opportunities for people across the city.

We’re very proud of what Sunderland offers as a place to do business, and it is vindication of that offer when brands like Just Eat are drawn to the city.

 

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Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.