UAE: Food delivery app to hire 300 female drivers by end of year

Dubai - The pledge essentially amounts to hiring at least one new female rider per day before the end of 2021.

Popular food delivery app Talabat has announced its pledge to add 300 female drivers to its delivery fleet in the UAE by the end of 2021.

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The move is in line with efforts to improve gender equality and provide women with wider employment opportunities across all functions in the organisation — and essentially amounts to hiring at least one new female rider per day until the end of the year.

On Tuesday, the brand announced it was welcoming 14 female delivery riders to their fleet across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

Women currently account for 67% of marketing roles, 43% of the sales force and 40% of management positions at the company, it added.

The pledge comes as the UAE continues to spearhead equality in the region in the fields of economics, government, education and health, while also establishing a ‘Gender Balance Council’ to offer women equal opportunities in the public sector.

These efforts have led the UAE to rank as first in the Arab region, and 26th globally, for gender equality on the UN Development Program’s Gender Inequality index.

Jérémy Doutté, Vice President UAE at talabat, believes that it is important to challenge stereotypical gender-norms.

“We have received an outpouring of positive feedback when we announced our first female delivery driver. The community’s support has been truly encouraging and we believe that this is another step forward in closing gender gaps and increasing female representation at all levels. Our efforts are very much in line with the UAE’s vision for gender equality.”

• Dubai