Instacart to hire 300,000 workers to meet delivery demands related to coronavirus

As the novel coronavirus spreads across the United States, grocery delivery service Instacart announced Monday it plans to hire 300,000 workers to help meet growing demand for home delivery.

“Since day one, our goal at Instacart has been to ensure customers get their groceries delivered reliably, to lift up our retail partners, and to provide flexible earnings opportunities for shoppers,” founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta wrote on the company’s website. “Today, the role we play and the responsibility we have takes on an entirely new meaning.”

Mehta wrote that Instacart has more users than ever and expects the need for home delivery to grow over the next few months.

The 300,000 new “full-service shoppers” will be hired nationwide, the company said.

“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,” Mehta wrote.

To help protect customers and shoppers from the spread of COVID-19, Instacart has rolled out a no-contact delivery feature, the statement said, as well as technology that allows shoppers to pay with “the tap of [their] phone.”

Additionally, all full-service or in-store Instacart shoppers will receive 14 days of extended pay if they’re diagnosed with coronavirus or placed in mandatory quarantine, the statement said.

This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 9:08 AM.