The leading Chinese gig economy platform Quhuo has formed a special task force for food delivery workers who cannot ride electric scooters and can only deliver by walking due to their health conditions, in an effort to ensure an inclusive, accessible, and friendly work environment for all of its employees.
These food delivery workers often suffer from illness that prevents them from riding a motorcycle, but they often have a strong will to work. While paying close attention to their needs, Quhuo proved its social responsibility by creating unique policies for these employees in need, an example of which being the staff handbook that was written especially to clearly guide them through their distinctive daily workflow.
The establishment of the special workforce comes as many residential communities in China have shifted their policies for food delivery amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. For example, the management committees of some apartment complexes have stipulated that food delivery workers are required to leave the orders at the entrance gates.
This gives an opportunity for the deployment of the special workforce. The delivery workers who can only deliver by walking are then arranged to stay inside the complexes that have implemented this kind of new delivery policy and help with the last 500-meter delivery to customers' doorsteps.
Such an arrangement reflects Quhuo's determination in pushing ahead with its corporate social responsibility efforts. As part of the Company's environmental, social, and governance strategy, the "walking" workforce not only meets the rising demand of short-distance deliveries within residential compounds but also gives the workers subject to special medical treatment a chance to continue working and earning money at their own pace without undermining their health conditions.
The workforce often consists of employees who are more senior or suffer from some form of illness or disability including people who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Datian Lin, a food delivery worker at Quhuo, suffers from chronic illnesses and has to receive regular treatment — sometimes nearly every week. This makes it particularly difficult for him to land a full-time job while staying financially afloat to pay his medical bills. To tackle this, Quhuo subsequently designed special tasks for him in their "walking" workforce.
Yupei He, a managing coordinator at a delivery worker deployment site in Beijing, said the site has recruited eight delivery workers as part of the special workforce and they mostly deliver by walking. "This helps them to earn money and live a more stable life with dignity, ensuring them an equal working environment," He said.
As with many companies, Quhuo has a full-attendance bonus system in place for its staff. Lisa Li, a human resources manager at Quhuo, said although employees in the special workforce sometimes cannot be present for duty due to their health conditions, the HR department still reviews the cases and grants them full-attendance bonuses to thank them for their contributions.
Lisa added that the Company has placed great emphasis on facilitating these employees to discover their potential and gain a sense of accomplishment from work.
The Company has been committed to accelerating internal CSR values and offering an equal labor environment for employees. It is also dedicated to giving back to society whenever possible. For example, when Zhengzhou — a city in central China's Henan province — was hit by massive floods in July, Quhuo distributed a large number of daily supplies and epidemic prevention supplies to local residents and delivery workers.
About Quhuo Limited
Quhuo was the largest workforce operational solution platform in China in 2019. Quhuo provides tech-enabled, end-to-end operational solutions to blue-chip on-demand consumer service businesses in industries with significant e-commerce exposure, including food delivery, ride-hailing, housekeeping, and bike-sharing. Quhuo's platform helps its industry customers mobilize a large team of workers and utilizes a combination of training, performance monitoring and refinement, and incentives to transform them into skilled workers who can follow industry-specific, standardized, and highly efficient service procedures. Within the on-demand consumer service ecosystem, the Company plays a unique and indispensable role as the link between consumer service businesses and end consumers to enable the delivery of goods, services, and experiences to consumers.