Office workers at Glovo faced an abrupt shakeup as the CEO and founder Oscar Pierre stood at the helm of a drastic change. Known for his frequent motto in team meetings, Pierre often said, “We hire an average of 1.5 engineers a day at Glovo.” That optimism collided with reality when a statement was issued showing that 147 employees would be dismissed, nearly 9 percent of the workforce.
Sarah, a pseudonym to protect identity, remembers being among those gradually moved toward dismissal. Access to work apps was cut, meetings were paused, and fewer people were called into them. “You are paused,” she was told.
They sent her home, and she has been waiting there since, going through one interview after another while negotiations on severance continue. “Losing my visa is my biggest fear,” she explains. A Latin American professional had arrived in Barcelona a few months earlier when Glovo recruited him across the ocean. Residence permits here depend on a specialized work visa tied to an existing contract, and if it dissolves, they must leave within 90 days.
Like Marta, another fictitious name, the new work relationship could end within a year. Marta hadde worked as a data analyst in Latin America and began a recruitment process at the end of 2021. The search targeted skilled programmers and other technical specialists to help develop the company’s algorithmic systems behind the yellow courier backpacks seen on city streets. The firm handled the paperwork, provided relocation support, and even offered a signing bonus.
Speaking of her experience, Marta, who joined with a salary of 150,000 liras, recalled that she joined out of curiosity and stayed due to the circumstances. That amount was significantly higher—€59,000 more than three times the annual average wage in Spain. The compensation and working conditions for Glovo office staff differ markedly from those of the delivery drivers who process orders and earn roughly five euros per hour.
The 1,700 office staff earn around €4,000 gross per month. Young employees with high qualifications often switch roles every couple of years as offers roll in. Glovo planned to recruit broadly—from France to India, via Chile and the UK. “If I learn after a year that I’m out on the street, I won’t stay,” Marta says. Her dream of moving to Europe is tempered by the reality of the layoffs, and she expresses disappointment in how the process was handled.
minimum compensation
Today Marta and Sara, along with 145 colleagues, are among those affected by Glovo erasures who have turned to legal counsel for guidance as negotiations stretch on. Crowe Spain represents Glovo on the other side of the table, and both parties are in the final weeks of consultation. The company’s current proposal is to dismiss 147 employees for unfair dismissal, offering roughly one month of pay as severance, a figure many consider inadequate.
“That amount isn’t enough to cover a month’s rent in Barcelona,” Sara notes. “Many of us have had to hire lawyers to protect our visas if we don’t want to leave the country.” She adds that the public stance from the company about supporting employees contradicts the reality on the ground and points to a perceived gap between core values and actions at the executive level.
Several affected workers are parents who relocated their families to Barcelona to pursue better opportunities. One colleague brought his wife and two children, relying on his sole earnings, only to face a compensation package that barely covers basic expenses when leaving work early became a reality.
Saying goodbye to LinkedIn full of offers
Glovo’s predicament comes amid layoffs across major tech firms such as Google, Meta, Twitter, and Amazon, driven by slower growth prospects. The Barcelona-based company, steered by Óscar Pierre, justified overstaffing in certain segments and mounting losses as the reason behind the layoff wave.
Glovo reported a €300 million loss in 2022, a downturn that also dragged its parent company, Delivery Hero, into the red. Delivery Hero acquired Glovo in December 2021 and awarded a €115 million bonus to Glovo’s shareholdings as part of the deal. In the same period, Delivery Hero announced plans to lay off around 150 employees in Berlin, synchronizing with Glovo’s own restructuring.
As Glovo negotiated exit terms for these 147 workers, LinkedIn showed 44 job postings for roles in Barcelona or Madrid offices, including project managers, advertising analysts, systems engineers, and cybersecurity specialists. All 44 postings appeared after Glovo publicly signaled its intention to reduce about 150 roles in its Spanish offices. Company spokespeople stated that the listed positions did not correspond to the affected ERE roles, and they would review job titles and descriptions to avoid misinterpretation.
From the outset, critics have argued that the process lacked humane consideration. Nacho Parra, a lawyer for Collectiu Ronda, noted that the exercise seemed to target a large number of workers only to leave them unemployed with a minimal payout. The situation underscores how hard the dismissal is for those involved and the families who depend on them, highlighting the need for fairer negotiations and stronger protections for workers during corporate restructuring.