share on
The delivery services provider has also launched its PowerUp! Tech Academy to upskill its riders, grow the tech talent pool, and help its merchants digitalise.
Marking 10 years of operations in Asia, foodpanda opened its regional headquarters in Singapore on 19 July 2022 (Tuesday), along with the launch of its PowerUp! Tech Academy.
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information, Tan Kiat How, officiated the launch, in an event attended by Human Resources Online.
The group's new regional headquarters in Singapore houses 1,200 employees from its regional and local operational teams, in addition to the company’s global tech hub.
According to the group, foodpanda has always considered Singapore a base and test market for innovation and new product development. Among the features beta-launched in Singapore were foodpanda’s cloud store network pandamart and on-demand retail marketplace foodpanda shops. Singapore was also the first market to roll out proof-of-concept drone deliveries in partnership with ST Engineering, as well as foodpanda’s logistics-as-a-service feature, pandago in 2020, offering express doorstep deliveries to customers.
Jakob Angele, CEO of foodpanda, commented: "In the past decade, tech has always been at the core of our business and has been critical to our success and growth. Singapore has proven to be a dynamic hub for foodpanda’s operations in the region, we expect to see more innovations to be launched from Singapore into the regional markets."
He further shared how initiatives such as its newly-launched foodpanda PowerUp! Tech Academy are essential to the organisation's long-term plans, as it nurtures more of Asia’s tech talent, build the ecosystem and grow Asia’s digital economy.
Building a strong tech core with foodpanda PowerUp! Tech Academy
The group believes building a strong tech core is crucial to enable the next decade of growth. Through various programmes and partnerships, the new PowerUp! Tech Academy will help:
- Grow the local tech talent pool
- Tech talent at any stage of their career will benefit from multiple training programmes at foodpanda. Young talent looking to start their journey in tech will be given the opportunity to sign up for internship and mentorship programmes. Meanwhile, those looking for a mid-career transition may sign up for upskilling opportunities.
- Programmes will be run in partnership with the relevant government authorities and tertiary institutions like Nanyang Technological University. The company has also signed an MOU with the Singapore University of Technology and Design that focuses on tech talent development, research and innovation.
- Upskill riders
- Riders will be given opportunities to upskill with free or discounted educational courses in partnership with tertiary institutions – certain courses will also present riders with certificates upon completion. Through a pilot in Singapore last year, over half of the rider fleet were observed to sign up for at least one programme.
- In Singapore, foodpanda partners Intellect will provide riders free access to mental wellbeing self-care programmes and virtual coaching sessions.
- Help merchants digitalise
- Across all its 11 markets in Asia, foodpanda runs multiple initiatives to support the digitalisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which comprises hawkers, street food vendors, neighbourhood 'mom-and-pop stores', and home-based businesses.
- Initiatives to digitalise MSMEs include providing digital tools to boost merchant visibility and grow customer base, and training on using these tools.
foodpanda currently operates in over 400 cities across 11 markets – Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
Photo / .Provided
Follow us on Telegram and on Instagram @humanresourcesonline for all the latest HR and manpower news from around the region!
share on
