Instacart CEO says impartial contractor standing is significant for moms who have to earn cash

Roughly 70% of the grocery-delivery firm’s gig employees are ladies, and half of them are moms, Simo mentioned throughout a chat at Fortune’s Most Highly effective Ladies Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif. For mothers with restricted availability to work conventional, full or part-time jobs, having the ability to management their very own schedule is crucial, she mentioned. 

“The concept they’ll open up an app and go to work, like for an hour, or for 3 hours or on the weekend, and actually match that into their schedule is a extremely vital worth that we carry to those folks and assist them earn cash,” Simo mentioned throughout an on-stage dialog with Fortune senior author Maria Aspan. 

Instacart and different so-called gig-economy corporations similar to Uber and Lyft, have confronted criticism for classifying employees as impartial contractors reasonably than as full time staff. At Instacart, these employees act as “customers” who roam grocery store and liquor-story aisles, filling orders positioned on-line after which delivering the products to the shopper’s doorstep. In 2020, Instacart employed some 550,000 contract-based customers.

“We don’t find yourself classifying impartial contractors as full-time staff, as a result of 80% of them advised us that’s completely not what they need,” Simo mentioned. 

Simo took over as Instacart’s chief govt in August 2021, and it’s her first foray right into a gig economy-based firm. She spent the earlier 10 years of her profession at Fb—transferring from roles as a product marketer to the pinnacle of the Fb app earlier than leaving in July 2021. Earlier than that, she led technique at eBay. 

Simo stored mum with regards to Instacart’s plans to drift shares to the general public. The corporate, which has seen its non-public market valuation decline from $39 billion to $24 billion amid the previous 12 months’s market downturn, filed paperwork for an IPO in Might. Since then, the corporate has laid off 3,000 employees and frozen hiring, in accordance with a latest report in The Data.

Through the speak, Simo described the potential for Instacart’s expertise to function a broader platform for companies to supply dwelling deliveries. “Instacart, as an organization, has the chance to be the expertise spine for the whole business.”

The query of whether or not gig-economy employees needs to be labeled as impartial contractors or common staff stays in flux, with components similar to how a lot management particular person employees have to hold out their each day duties on the middle of a debate between corporations, labor advocates, courts, and regulators. On Tuesday, the U.S. Labor Division proposed new federal guidelines that may make it more durable for corporations to categorise employees as contractors, entitling them to extra rights similar to additional time and minimal wage.

Instacart just lately agreed to pay $46.5 million to settle a 2019 lawsuit introduced by town of San Diego alleging that the corporate mislabeled 308,000 full-time employees as impartial contractors. Instacart didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing within the settlement, which can present affected employees again pay for fuel, auto repairs, cellphones and different Instacart-related expenditures.

Join the Fortune Options electronic mail listing so that you don’t miss our largest options, unique interviews, and investigations.