Swiggy launches career accelerator programme for delivery executives

Food delivery major Swiggy has announced the launch of what it claims to be an industry-first accelerator programme for its delivery executives to transition into full-time, managerial-level jobs with a fixed salary and additional benefits. The initiative, named 'Step-Ahead', is aimed at giving an opportunity to those executives who want to move from their current flexible engagement with Swiggy to a dedicated, managerial role, the company said in a statement.

Currently, the delivery executives working with various platform companies are engaged on a flexible basis (contractual in nature), with wages dependent on the number of working hours per day.

To be eligible for the role of a fleet manager, a Swiggy delivery executive must hold a college degree, possess communication skills and basic computer knowledge and should have been delivering with Swiggy for a few years.

"Managing a fleet of delivery executives, the fleet managers, will be responsible for different roles like maintaining metrics like login hours, cancellations, resolving queries, and working on special projects for delivery executives. Being well-versed with the challenges and opportunities at a ground level owing to their rich experience in delivery, seasoned delivery executives are a natural fit," the company said in a statement.

Over the years, numerous Swiggy delivery executives have joined the platform as fleet managers. With ‘Step Ahead’, Swiggy is claiming to formalise this process and intends to reserve at least 20 per cent of all fleet manager hires for its delivery executives. Swiggy is also considering reducing the tenure requirement to around 2 years.

“Swiggy has consistently maintained that our delivery executives are the backbone of our operations; and we are proud to enable an income opportunity for over 2.7 lakh women and men across the country. While most may consider their association with the platform as a stop gap between jobs or an education, or even an additional source of income, we realize that there are some who want more. With ‘Step Ahead’, Swiggy is creating a unique opportunity for those interested to flip their collar from blue to white and take on a managerial role,” said  Mihir Rajesh Shah, VP, Operations, Swiggy

Swiggy currently has over 2.7 lakh delivery partners across the country. The company said that the delivery executives  receive benefits such as accident insurance and medical cover, personal loans, legal assistance, covid income support, emergency support, income support during accident or illness recovery, bereavement leaves, period time off, maternity cover, among others.