From free courses to a college diploma, delivery men and women who work on the iFood platform can participate in several company programs that support their learning needs in their education journey.
This journey begins when they log into the app: if they want to learn more about how to make deliveries, they can access the quick courses on iFood Takes Off. They also cover topics such as personal finance and entrepreneurship, among the more than one hundred options offered. Since 2021, the program has issued more than 240,000 certificates to more than 100,000 couriers.
Delivery man Ricardo Ferreira, 41 years old, has been working with the iFood app for around four years and has taken iFood Decola courses. “iFood Decola has helped me a lot in my daily life, in my work. It helps me to have a broader knowledge of what happens”, he says.
“Education is changing my life. From the moment I have knowledge involving a range of opportunities, it becomes easier for me. The more information I have and put it into practice, the better it will be for my daily life, for my life”, he adds.
High school diploma
In 2023, 31% of delivery drivers registered with iFood did not complete high school, according to research “Urban mobility and delivery logistics: an overview of the work of drivers and delivery people with apps”, carried out by Cebrap (Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning) at the request of Amobitec.
In that case, they can do the My High School Diploma, free preparation for the Encceja test (National Examination for Certification of Skills for Young People and Adults), which provides a certificate of secondary school completion.
One of the students in the first edition of the program was delivery man William da Silva Capela. “I had the opportunity to complete my studies and now I have the opportunity to attend my first college, which has always been my dream, to show this to my family”, he says.
“It seems like nothing, but it’s a lot. Education changes people's lives. I'm building my future from now on, I just have to thank iFood”, he adds.
Like him, 950 delivery men and women passed the test and received their high school diploma in 2022. This year, more than 13 thousand have already signed up to participate in the second edition of My High School Diploma.
Those who are approved can also apply for a scholarship to go to college. In 2023, iFood entered into a partnership with Faculdade das Américas (FAM) to offer full scholarships to 380 delivery drivers, of which 107 enrolled at the institution.
Technology career
Another important iFood education program is Tech Power. In this modality, delivery men and women who want to work in the technology area — as well as people who are underrepresented in the area, such as women and people of color — can have a scholarship to take courses in this area, such as those that teach programming.
Patrick Andrade, 27 years old, is an iFood delivery man and is taking a software development course through Potência Tech. “The experience for me has been incredible. “I thought it would be very difficult to learn programming, but with strength and dedication anyone can learn,” says the delivery man.
“I believe that with this tool in a while I will be changing my area of activity. iFood creates an opportunity for me to generate income and also for me to educate myself. With this, I think it is much more than a delivery platform.”
In a year and a half of existence, Potência Tech received applications from more than 48 thousand people, of which 96% came from underrepresented groups and 80% with a low-income profile. Around 25 thousand scholarships were granted, accounting for more than 1,500 people employed.
