Foreign workers at Wolt Hungary: courier and restaurant manager chime in – and they are not happy

In the last few days, the employment of foreign workers at Wolt Hungary came under scrutiny. As we wrote in a recent article, the food delivery company stated that their experience with foreign workers is positive and that they diligently address any delivery-related inconveniences based on user feedback. However, a former courier and a restaurant manager, who reacted to the company’s claims, have provided contrasting perspectives on the matter, painting a bleaker picture.

Setting the stage: addressing questions on foreign workers at Wolt Hungary

As we reported, Világgazdaság magazine asked Wolt Hungary regarding the number of guest workers at the courier company. Wolt clarified that their food couriers are not employees but rather partners with service contracts. Therefore, Wolt Hungary does not, in the legal sense, employ guest workers.

Furthermore, Wolt Hungary stated that they do not collect information on nationality during courier recruitment, affirming their policy of non-discrimination based on national background, be it positive or negative.

Overall, Wolt Hungary asserted that their experience with foreign workers has been positive, emphasising their commitment to ongoing monitoring of customer feedback to ensure delivery satisfaction.

Former Wolt courier and store manager speak out

Following their report, Index.hu received a letter from a reader claiming to be a former courier of the company, complaining about foreign workers at Wolt Hungary. They wrote:

“Not only do the [foreigner] “colleagues” [quotation marks from the writer of the letter – ed.] not speak Hungarian, but often they even lack a basic knowledge of English. Typically, they communicate their order by showing their phone to restaurant staff. They are very unkempt both when it comes to work ethic and hygiene; we don’t stand near them when waiting in a restaurant because of the noticeable odours. Besides, they also handle orders in a way that I, for example, never would.”

Index.hu also interviewed the manager of a fast-food restaurant, who lamented:

“For the past six months, our restaurant has been full of Asian couriers, who come into our bathroom every half a minute without permission, help themselves to our lemonade without asking and about thirty of them park their bikes in front of the restaurant. They don’t even deliver food from us to the customers, they just hang out there and use our infrastructure.”

“I’ve gone to talk to them fifty times, none of them understand what I’m saying, they don’t speak English nor Hungarian… I’ve notified Wolt at least twenty times, I’ve also talked to their contact person, but they still don’t f—ing do anything…”

Index reports that they spent approximately three-quarters of an hour in the restaurant conducting a brief investigation into the prevailing conditions. While acknowledging the impracticality of drawing conclusions from such a short observation, the author notes that around 90% of the food couriers entering the restaurant during this period appeared to be from South Asia and Vietnam – how they came to this assumption is unclear since the article does not indicate that everyone was asked about their country of origin.

The author attempted to talk to two Vietnamese delivery guys, but they were unable to reply in either Hungarian or English. Instead, they indicated their orders by showing their phones at the counter. However, the author did not witness any incidents of lemonade theft or unauthorized use of the bathrooms during their visit.

Foreign workers or management: addressing the real issue

In addition to concerns regarding the hygiene and work ethic of foreign employees at Wolt Hungary, along with their limited knowledge of English and Hungarian, the letter addressed to Index highlights a more systemic problem.

According to the writer, foreign workers find employment through fleet companies. These companies hire workers in groups, often at meagre wages (allegedly half the rate of Hungarian workers) and swiftly dissolve to evade taxation. Then, a new fleet is set up and the cycle continues.

“Today, we receive 30-40 percent less for the same workload compared to a year ago, despite significant inflation. […] Those of us who used to work 10-12 hours daily can no longer make ends meet with our ever-decreasing wages, while migrant workers are willing to accept lower rates.”

The former courier predicts that soon, Wolt Hungary and other courier companies will predominantly employ foreign workers, as their contracting costs are considerably lower.

As the writer of the letter points out, the company’s management prioritises profit, so for them, the use of cheap labour from abroad is more lucrative than paying higher wages to Hungarian couriers, even if there are problems with the workforce.

Presumably, for this reason, the company does not enforce language proficiency requirements for contractors, nor do they sponsor language courses. Similarly, couriers, irrespective of nationality, who work cheaply but inadequately are often retained despite complaints.

Read also:

• McDonald’s in Hungary: Popular fast food chain expands further in Hungary – HERE
• VIDEO: What’s happening in Hungary? Food delivery rider on the motorway – Read HERE

Source: Index