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

Picture this: You’ve ordered dinner on an app, and the courier who delivered your food didn’t know Hungarian or even English. No worries, you managed to communicate with an “enjoy” and “thank you”. You might have had a similar experience before with Wolt in Hungary. Indeed, it’s a common impression that there are a lot of foreigners among the delivery people in the country. Let’s delve into this claim below.

Világgazdaság.hu asked the Wolt courier company whether they employ guest workers and, if so, what the ratio of foreign and Hungarian workers among their delivery people is. The company responded to the news site’s questions in writing.

Wolt in Hungary emphasised that anyone can be a food courier who lives in the country and that they do not keep records of their employees’ countries of origin. The company currently has contracts with more than 8,000 active courier partners on a monthly basis.

Are there many foreign couriers employed by Wolt in Hungary? – The company responds

First and foremost, Wolt in Hungary pointed out that since the couriers are not employees of the company, but delivery partners with a service contract, we cannot talk about the employment of guest workers in their case. Couriers contract with the company as sole proprietors, through cooperatives (e.g. a student organisation) or through a fleet partner.

As Wolt in Hungary explained, “Courier companies are often associated with foreigners, as it is easier to spot them on the street or meet them when they deliver our orders.”

At the same time, the company highlights that they do not ask for information regarding one’s nationality when hiring couriers, as “Neither [their] system nor [the] company’s mentality allows any kind of negative or positive discrimination – regardless of gender, age, work membership form or country of origin.”

In response to the questions from Világgazdaság, however, they wrote that overall their experiences with workers who are not Hungarian have been positive and that they are constantly monitoring customer feedback to ensure that there are no complaints about the speed or manner of deliveries.

Why is working as a courier a great source of income for some?

At the same time, there are several reasons why becoming Wolt couriers in Hungary might be an attractive prospect for workers from foreign countries.

As Wolt in Hungary explains, the cost of entry for the job is relatively low: it is enough if the applicant has a bicycle, as knowledge of the Hungarian language is not necessary. In addition, working hours are extremely flexible. Couriers can undertake the delivery of as many orders as they wish whenever they have some free time. For example, there are contractors at the company who run errands for 1 hour every two weeks or every month.

This allows Wolt couriers in Hungary to study or have full-time jobs and take on delivery as a source of extra income on the side.

The company also highlights this possibility: “Regardless of nationality, courier partners in many cases regard delivery services as an opportunity to earn an additional income,” often as a short-term solution for financial troubles.

Világgazdaság also wanted to know how Wolt in Hungary finds foreign workers and what proportion of the total number of couriers they make up, as well as how much customer demand the company has, how many sales it closed last year and this year and what its expectations are regarding price increases in the coming months. However, these questions were not answered.

Read also:

Guest workers: new law may simplify Chinese and Russian immigration to Hungary – Read the story HERE

Will food delivery couriers disappear from Hungary due to drone delivery? – Read more HERE