Delivery Hero to shut Türkiye, Taiwan tech hubs, cut jobs
View of the global headquarters of online food ordering and delivery giant Delivery Hero, in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2017. (AFP Photo)


Delivery Hero will be closing its global tech hubs in Türkiye and Taiwan and adjusting the headcount at its headquarters in Berlin, the German online food ordering and delivery giant announced Monday.

The company has reduced the workforce of its Berlin headquarters and global service roles by around 13% this year, it said in a statement.

Delivery Hero has been focusing on reaching profitability while maintaining growth as investor confidence in the company started to wane after a pandemic-driven boost.

"While we believe that this is a necessary step as our business enters the next stage of its maturity, it does mean we will be letting go of employees who have made many valuable contributions in their time with us," it said in a statement.

The online takeaway food company did not say in the statement how many employees would be affected.

According to the company's half-year financial report, 47,208 employees were working at Delivery Hero as of June 30, 2023, down from 51,118 at the end of 2022.

After the pandemic-driven boost to growth, food delivery firms have focused on reaching profitability amid waning investor confidence.

The company expects adjusted EBITDA of around 250 million euros ($272.78 million) this year, compared to a loss of 624 million euros in 2022.

The closure of the Global Technology and Innovation Center in Türkiye means a layoff of up to 250 people, local tech news site, Webrazzi, reported Monday.

It said the center, set up in 2021, had targeted the employment of some 1,000 people in the first year.

Delivery Hero is the owner of Yemeksepeti, one of Türkiye's leading online food delivery companies, which it acquired in 2015 in a transaction then valued at $589 million.

The company in September said it was in talks for a partial sale of its Asia business, in a deal estimated to exceed 1 billion euros.

The Berlin-based company said it plans to sell its activities under the Foodpanda brand in Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.