“You´ll just need to come by for a quick chat with one of our team leads, and you’ll be good to go!”

That’s what I was told during my phone interview for a job as delivery rider, after applying very easily, online. A week later I was heading to what turned out to be less of a chat and more of an induction.

Arriving at the cheap-n-fast-built company office, I entered a room where 10-15 People were sitting around a table. I texted an ex-rider friend and was reassured that her experience had been similar: short introduction video, then practically hired on the spot.

A company employee eventually rushed in, made an introduction in German, and then repeated the whole thing in English after a few people had raised their hands to indicate they didn’t understand. 

We introduced ourselves, highlighting our experience relevant to the job, and for those with prior riding experience, outlining the reasons why we had quit. He listened, impatiently, periodically interrupting with questions interspersed with some derogatory sounding comments.

He made us aware that there would be no break rooms and that shift scheduling wouldn’t always take our preferences into account. Of course it was possible to accommodate shifts in some cases, he said, but he literally frowned upon it.

After briefly answering a few questions he moved on, announcing we would all be notified the next day via e-mail if we got the job, but that a few of us would have to stay to give further personal details.

As soon as the first group had left, he immediately let the rest of us know he wanted us to work for the company. We indicated the hours we each wanted to work and when we could start, and then were promptly ushered out. The whole thing couldn’t have lasted more than 20 minutes, during which time we were left with a clear message that riders were the lowest tier of the company’s workforce, that we could not expect respect from higher-up staff, and that we were easily and immediately replaceable. 

Among those who had been filtered out were many non-German speakers, as well as every single ex-rider who on questioning had replied that they had been – in some form or other – unhappy with their former employer.

I had expected some typical start-up unpleasantness, but this was still alarming to me: it left me with an immediate wish to become that troublesome employee they were clearly looking to avoid.

This text is written by a FAU-member who recently started working at MAYD.

If you also wanna get on board, write us faub-aus |a] fau.org