Austin economy:

Instacart to convert some Austin contractors to employees.

Instacart, the San Francisco-based grocery delivery service, is growing its presence in Austin by converting dozens of its contract workers to parttime employees, the company said Monday.

In all, the change could affect about 100 local Instacart contractors who could now become employees eligible for benefits. The effort also sheds more light on the scale of the company’s workforce here locally, which previously was not publicly revealed.

Instacart said Monday it was making the same move in Houston as well.

“We’re pleased to expand the employee model into Houston and Austin,” Apoorva Mehta, founder and CEO of Instacart, said in a written statement. “Our order volume in both cities is growing quickly, and we want to ensure that our customers have the best possible experience. Attracting, training and retaining

high-quality shoppers is key to that effort.”

Newly converted Instacart workers will get additional training and supervision that the company says will “boost the efficiency and quality of order picking, resulting in higher customer satisfaction.”

Instacart said it expects about three-quarters of its workers in Houston and Austin to apply for the new employee slots.

Instacart partners with Austin-based Whole Foods Market, playing a key role in the organic food giant’s national grocery pickup and delivery service that is looking to reach new customers.

Instacart has already extended the new employee option to its in-store shoppers in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami andWashington, D.C. For example, the change in Boston affected 200 workers there and about 100 workers in Chicago, said Andrea Saul, vice president of communications for Instacart.

With Monday’s announcement, Instacart will now offer the option in seven of the 16 cities where it currently operates.

The employee option will be offered to in-store shoppers, who will now have expanded responsibilities, Instacart said. Drivers who solely deliver groceries will remain in their contract roles, company executives said.

“Grocery shopping is pretty complicated. As we continue to grow and make the best experience for our customers we are always looking for ways to improve,” Saul said. “Even though this mode is costlier for us, we think the workers will deliver better service for our customers and for our business in the longer term.”

Saul said the company will offer its employees a flexible schedule and there will not be a minimum number of hours required to retain a parttime slot.