In a significant move towards empowering the workforce in India’s food delivery and quick commerce sectors, Swiggy has partnered with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to launch ‘Swiggy Skills’. This initiative aims to provide a wide range of skilling and employment opportunities within the company’s food delivery and quick commerce network. The platform was officially launched on September 7, 2024, in New Delhi by Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Swiggy focuses on generating employment, internship, and training opportunities in restaurant operations and retail management. This partnership is seen as a crucial step in fostering public-private collaboration to address skill gaps in the industry.
Speaking at the launch event, Jayant Chaudhary emphasized the importance of the logistics sector in India’s future. He stated, “Our government has launched the National Logistics Policy in India. We are also creating an enabling ecosystem for the growth in this sector where skilling and education work hand in hand.” The minister further highlighted how the partnership is an example of how public-private collaborations can accelerate growth and open up new avenues for employment in the logistics and retail sectors, vital to achieving the vision of “Viksit Bharat @ 2047.”
Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy Food Marketplace, shared insights on how Swiggy Skills will play a pivotal role in the development of India’s workforce. “India’s F&B and retail sectors are expanding rapidly, contributing around 13% of the overall GDP and generating significant employment,” Kapoor said.
Kapoor explained that Swiggy Skills will focus on four key areas to drive the initiative forward. “We plan to integrate with MSDE’s Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) across our partners’ apps, enabling almost 2.4 lakh delivery partners and the staff of our 2 lakh restaurant partners to easily access online skill development courses, offline certifications, and training modules,” he said.
The Swiggy CEO further elaborated, “Second, youngsters who have undergone training under MSDE’s programme for operational roles such as retail and logistics management, and operational aspects of F&B business, will be connected to Swiggy’s ecosystem of restaurants and retail backend operations, where they can find suitable opportunities.”
In addition to supporting retail and F&B, Swiggy will also contribute to quick commerce. Kapoor said, “In Swiggy Instamart operations, we will be able to provide recruitment to 3,000 individuals across the country. We have also planned to provide training and internship to 200 people trained by MSDE, in our quick commerce operations at the senior level.”
Swiggy also aims to leverage its employee base to contribute to skill development. “Finally, Swiggy, under our employee volunteering program, will be able to provide in-house expertise to create training modules on emerging issues such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Marketing, Retail, Quick Commerce, Logistics, and more,” Kapoor added.