Instacart shoppers say they face unforgiving metrics: 'It's a very easy job to lose'

[left-of-center2012]

Five days a week, Ryan Hartson scours the picked-over aisles of Mariano’s in Chicago to fill grocery delivery orders for Instacart. He clocks in for his shift exactly on the hour — if he's even five minutes late, he'll receive a "reliability incident." Within four minutes he must accept any incoming orders; any longer, and he'll be kicked off the shift and risk getting an incident. Three incidents in a week, and he's at risk of termination. "It's a very easy job to lose," Hartson said.

To avoid missing orders, Hartson schedules his bathroom visits — after four hours of work, the app notifies him that he has earned a 10-minute paid break. Meanwhile, Instacart managers use the app to see if he's running behind on his orders.

Metrics define the experience of Instacart's part-time workforce. Measured weekly for employees such as Harston are the number of reliability incidents, the number of seconds it takes to pick each item and the percentage of customers with whom they correspond. Some former and current employees say 5% to 20% of shoppers in a store can be fired weekly.

Even in the data-driven tech world, Instacart stands out for its metrics-oriented culture, interviews with more than 30 current and former employees, as well as documents and recordings reviewed by The Times, reveal. This drive toward productivity helps Instacart's profit margins, a vital step for a start-up that recorded its first-ever monthly profit in April, as the COVID-19 pandemic heightened demand for grocery delivery.

Instacart says it has eased enforcement of certain metrics during the pandemic, but shoppers say company policies often ignore the realities of the job, leaving them in constant fear of termination over matters that are out of their control.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/instacart-shoppers-face-unforgiving-metrics-130043642.html

[madaboutharry]

1. This is the description of an abusive work environment.

I have been in Whole Foods a couple of times over the past months and have seen their shoppers. They are working off lists on their phones. They seem to be working at a very comfortable pace and didn't seem pressured or stressed out at all.

The shoppers who fill the online orders for Whole Foods actually work for Amazon, which also doesn't have a great reputation for employee treatment. But the people I saw working to fill the Whole Foods orders seemed pretty chill.

I haven't used Instacart, but this article is very off-putting.

[mopinko]

2. so that's why i keep getting shitty replacements,

and missed items. no time to look for them.
some are just stupid, tho. i ordered a quart of cream and got a pint instead. not 2, duh.
and i got oatmeal bread, instead of sourdough. even tho i was right there and replied that any sourbread would do. i had a lovely tomato to make bruschetta. wasnt the same w oatmeal bread.

i have had a couple unforgivable ones, tho. newly diabetic and ordered alcohol swabs, plus alcohol, and peroxide. got none of them.
and one asshole stole me petco order. marked it delivered early a.m. i called their dedicated senior number, and they promised it would be expedited. when it wasnt here by 5 p.m., i called back and got the pita treatment. had to get a small bag from the local jewel.
fuck up my food, one thing. make me dogs go hungry, pay hell.

i'll still use them when this plague is over. but i have been singing their praises.
now they are a necessary evil. like all the rest of them.

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[Chili]

4. It's the only way I grocery shop now

Most times I don't have a problem, but...

(1) I don't use my fridge's ice-maker, so I get bags of ice, enough to last a week. My ice has been left at the store 3 times. Grrr.

(2) No offense, guys, but the men shoppers sometimes don't know where to find things, or pick lettuce instead of cabbage because they don't know the difference, etc. But not all - some of my best, fastest, most accurate shoppers have been men, even young ones.

(3) I know it's not a fun job, and it's usually a 2nd job because it's needed, but a few times I've had some really unfriendly or just plain snippy shoppers. I never rate for that reason - no point, and to me, snippiness is not worth making a job loss possible.

(4) The worst thing to happen was 2 weeks ago. Didn't get my food at all, and it was reported delivered. I was furious, somebody got $65 worth of free food. Now THAT I made a big stink about - you just dropped it off at the wrong address? Worse, I know the street it went to - I watch the GPS screen. My food went to someone with the same street name in the next neighborhood, with houses worth 2-3 times more than mine. Apparently they just kept it. I would've said, no, not mine, or, if I weren't home, I'd call InstaCart and tell them, this ain't mine. I did get calmed down when I called - they gave me a credit that included an extra $20.

Anyway, I'm always friendly and talkative to them when they deliver, and even joke with them by cell when they ask a question. The whole thing is a pain in the ass and expensive, but I work at home so it's just so easy to do instead of watching maskless people shop around you.

I like Whole Foods too, but they are even more expensive, at least the food is, and choices are limited.