Instacart Lays Off Unionized Employees, Continues Focus on Independent Contractors

While the COVID-19 pandemic has been a disaster for most of the economy, some business models have benefited from it.Grocery delivery has surged—and Instacart has been there to fill the demand.Back in April, the company made headlines with their plans to hire 250,000 workers.But with 500,000 "full-service shoppers" now at their disposal, Instacart is also scaling down full-time employees.At least 1,800 employees will soon lose their jobs, including Instacart's only unionized labor.Their more flexible independent contractor shoppers can go into stores and assemble pickup orders.It now appears that Instacart has no interest in shifting away from the independent contractor model