Liu Quingdong or otherwise known as Richard Liu, CEO and leader of JD.com, has been working in the retail industry since before the turn of the millennium. Liu Quingdong has witnessed the SARS epidemic that hit the region back in 2003, and he understands the extra responsibility that is put on the shoulder of business leaders and people who are looked up to by others.
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Richard Liu is an influential figure in China. His retail platform is the largest in the country solely for its established supply chain network that caters to even those remote areas where businesses do not bother operating in. Liu understands what it is to have a business close down or not receive customers due to an epidemic and that is why he has taken huge steps in ensuring that the economic impact of the virus is minimized.
Since supermarkets are temporarily closed Jingdong is looking to hire more than 5000 people for its picking and packing division. They are doing this by hiring the same people who have lost their jobs in the brick and mortar supermarkets and have not been inflicted with the virus. The company has also introduced customer service positions available for those who cannot leave their house as they are caring for their ill family members but are themselves able and healthy. They can work remotely and customer service reps for JD.
Apart from this JD has also created 35,000 new jobs out of which 20,000 jobs are for the roles of logistic related jobs such as drivers, and warehouse managers. JD.com has also pushed the Dada Group which it backs to upscale its operations and delivery systems by hiring an additional 10,000 people.
The existing employees at the warehouses and the HQ of JD have to stick with strict set of requirements that ensure that the virus does not spread. It is mandatory for all employees to wear masks and gloves. At regular intervals they all undergo temperature checks. Their insurance policy has been updated to include benefits for Coronavirus.
On the monetary front, JD has done more than most. Richard Liu has donated more than RMB 200 million to support the aid for Coronavirus. The company has also donated its own resources to various charities. The online retail organization donated 100 million masks and 60,000 units of medical supplies and medicines to the charity foundations in the Hubei province. It has also funded and delivered 80,000 masks to hospitals throughout Wuhan. Wuhan is the center of the outbreak and therefore under partial quarantine, it takes extra measures and special permission to transport goods inside.
To date JD has also delivered 1600 tons of preventive paraphernalia to the surrounding areas of Wuhan. They have accomplished this with a team of volunteers who already reside in these areas.
There is good reason that people are not going outside to go shopping and therefore the demand for online shopping has significantly increased. However, there is still a risk of transporting goods from the nearest store to a customer’s location. JD has made changes to its supply chain route and is now not picking up things that have already reached the inventory of stores. Instead in partnership with the brands that it sells at the online store, JD picks up items straight from the manufacturing warehouses and delivers it to the doorsteps of the consumers, with only one person involved in handling those goods and that is the JD.com driver who has protective gear on.
