Domino’s Pizza creates 5,000 new jobs as demand for food deliveries rises during pandemic

UK's largest pizza delivery chain says it will also support more than 1,000 placements under the government's Kickstart scheme

(Getty Images)

Domino's Pizza is to create 5,000 new jobs, including chefs, drivers and customer service staff, as it continues to benefit from rising demand for food deliveries during the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK's largest pizza delivery chain said it would also support more than 1,000 placements under the government's Kickstart scheme for under-25s.

People on placements will be given online training in “key skills” such as timekeeping and teamwork, and will have an opportunity to apply for permanent roles after six months.

The company’s chief executive, Dominic Paul, said: “It was a privilege to keep our stores open during Covid-19 and to now be in a position to offer thousands more people the opportunity to become a Domino's team member.

“We're also delighted to have applied to support the government's Kickstart scheme, offering young people the chance to get back into work and to build lifelong skills through our training programmes.

“Together, these over 6,000 new roles will help Domino's continue to safely serve our local communities as we head towards the busy festive period.”

He added that the apprentices will have access to e-learning modules on “employability skills”, including timekeeping and teamwork, and will earn “in line with current store-pay levels”.

Supermarkets and online retailers including Amazon have also announced hiring plans in recent weeks, but the numbers being taken on are less than the redundancies being made elsewhere, particularly on the high street.

Official figures released on Tuesday showed that the number of people on UK employers' payrolls dropped by 695,000 between March and August, with a sharp rise in redundancies in July.

WHSmith, Debenhams and John Lewis are among a string of high street names to have announced job cuts. The Centre for Retail Research identified more than 125,000 redundancies in the sector this year.

Domino's is the latest large firm to take advantage of the government's Kickstart scheme, which provides funding for employers who give placements to young workers.

Training providers have expressed “serious concern” that the scheme will displace established apprenticeships and may not develop the skills that young people need.

Under Kickstart, the government will pay employers for the wages of young workers they take on. Participants must be paid the national minimum wage for at least 25 hours per week.

The incentive is much more than employers otherwise receive for apprentices.

The Trades Union Congress has urged the government to carefully scrutinise employers who use the scheme, in order to ensure they are not firing more experienced and expensive workers and replacing them with government-subsidised younger workers.

The unions body also raised concerns that the scheme will not lead to good quality jobs at the end of placements.