Swiggy Initiative To Enable Drivers To Transition Into Managerial Roles

SUMMARY

The initiative will be open to Swiggy delivery executives with a college degree who possess communication skills and basic computer knowledge

Move aimed at creating an accelerator programme for delivery executives to move into ‘full-time jobs with a fixed salary and other benefits’: Swiggy

Swiggy aims to reserve at least 20% of Fleet Manager positions for its delivery executives

Foodtech platform Swiggy has launched a “potentially an industry-first” accelerator programme, ‘Step Ahead’, for its delivery executives. Under the programme, delivery executives will be able to transition into managerial roles within the firm.

According to the startup, the move is aimed at providing an opportunity to its delivery executives to move into ‘full-time jobs with a fixed salary and other benefits’.

In a statement, Swiggy said that the initiative would be open to Swiggy delivery executives with a college degree and who have been with the startup for a few years. Swiggy also stipulated other eligibility criteria such as communication skills and basic computer knowledge as compulsory for the programme.

After the induction, the delivery executives would transition into the role of fleet managers where they would manage important metrics for the startup such as cancellations, resolving queries, and working on special projects for delivery executives.

With this move, Swiggy said it has formalised the process which has been prevalent within the organisation since as early as 2019. Previously also many delivery executives have transitioned into fleet managers. With this programme, Swiggy aims to reserve at least 20% of fleet manager positions for its delivery executives.

Swiggy said it was also considering reducing the tenure requirement to around 2 years for the programme.

Last month, Gurugram-based hyperlocal services provider Urban Company also announced a Partner Stock Ownership Plan for its service providers. Under the plan, the startup said it would award stocks worth INR 150 Cr to thousands of its service partners over the next 5-7 years.

Founded in 2014, Swiggy is a major player in the foodtech space. Apart from food delivery service, it also has quick commerce grocery delivery service Instamart, intra-city courier service Swiggy Genie and meat and dairy delivery service Swiggy Supr Daily.

Swiggy has close to 2.7 Lakh delivery executives on its platform. It also claims to host more than 1.85 Lakh restaurants across 500 cities on its app. Additionally, its Instamart service is present in as many as 23 cities across India.

Earlier in January, the startup raised $700 Mn in a funding round led by Invesco. The fundraise also saw Swiggy’s valuation soar to $10 Bn-$11 Bn, turning it into a decacorn.

The development comes amidst reports of Swiggy planning to go public. A financial daily in March reported that the decacorn had hired JP Morgan and I-Sec ahead of its imminent IPO worth about $1 Bn. In February, it also began inducting independent directors to its board, hinting at the IPO.

The foodtech giant competes with publicly-listed Zomato in the heavily consolidated food delivery market. It also competes with Zomato-backed Blinkit, Reliance-backed Dunzo, and Mumbai-based Zepto in the quick commerce segment.

As per a RedSeer report, the quick commerce market in India is expected to reach $5 Bn by 2025 from the current $0.3 Bn.