Partnership between iFood, XP and 18 other companies seeks to accelerate the training of young people to combat the technological blackout
Brazil is currently experiencing a curious situation in the area of technology. At the same time that there are 12 million people unemployed in the country, the sector should have 133 thousand open and unfilled vacancies in 2022, according to Brasscom estimate (Association of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Digital Technologies Companies).
This is because there is a lack of people qualified to work with technology; only 53,000 professionals graduate in this area every year, according to the association. Along this path, the country runs the risk of having a technological blackout and reach 797 thousand unfilled vacancies in 2025.
To change this scenario, iFood joins forces with XP Inc. and 18 other companies in the Tech Movement, a platform for private social investment in education that will invest R$ 100 million, by 2025, in projects that accelerate the training and employability of young people in technology — and aims to reach R$ 2.1 billion in 2030.
The initiative will also have the support of BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development). At the Movimento Tech launch event, Bruno Aranha, director of productive and socio-environmental credit at the bank, announced that for every R$ 1 million raised by Movimento, the bank will invest a counterpart in the same amount, with a maximum limit of R$ 30 million in total.
The movement is based on three pillars of action: awakening interest in the area of technology at school; train future talents for the professions of tomorrow; and promote initiatives that help companies employ professionals from underrepresented profiles.
“In the last year, we saw many companies investing in education, but with actions still very fragmented. We realize the importance of joining forces to help resolve this professional qualification deficit that hinders Brazil's development”, says Fabricio Bloisi, president of iFood. “With this union, we hope to promote the meeting of talents who are just waiting for an opportunity, at the same time that we contribute to social transformation and the development of the country.”
In addition to the sponsors iFood and XP Inc., the action's sponsors are Accenture, Arco Instituto, Buser, Ci&T, Cubos Academy, Grupo Boticário, Digital House, Fundação Behring, Gama Academy, Instituto Localiza, Kenzie Academy Brasil, Let's Code, ONE ( Oracle Next Education), RD – RaiaDrogasil, Rocketseat, Semantix, Telles Foundation and VTEX.
First projects in action
The first efforts to create the Tech Movement took place in 2021, the result of conversations about how companies could develop and prepare young people for the future of work.
In this first phase, four projects stand out, two of which have already started. One of them is the Tech Marathon, a Technology Olympiad launched in May 2022. In the first edition, 80 thousand public school students, from the 9th year and from high school, learned about logical thinking and faced the challenge of developing and programming a technological solution for the future.
Another, launched by iFood, is the platform Tech Power, which supports the training of technology professionals with free courses, scholarship programs and support for entering the job market. In nine months, more than 27 thousand people have signed up to the platform, more than 6,000 scholarships have been made available in partnership with technology schools and 450 people have been employed.
Now, the Tech Movement's next steps are to expand the Empodera Tech Network —a union of organizations focused on training young people aged 15 to 25 in situations of social vulnerability— and to develop Jovem Aprendiz Tech, an initiative focused on employability.
“Our objective is to contribute to Brazil being a prosperous and leading country in terms of technology, with job and career opportunities for all Brazilians”, says Thiago Maffra, CEO of XP Inc. “We have the big dream of making the difference in training professionals prepared for the challenges of the new digital economy. We believe that, through social investment, we can generate a structural impact in Brazil.”
