More than 60% of app drivers and delivery people are black, says study

More than 60% of drivers and delivery people who provide services to the main platforms and apps in Brazil declare themselves to be black (black or brown), and more than half have no other jobs than those they provide to companies such as iFood and Uber.

The data are part of a study carried out by the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (Cebrap) at the request of the Brazilian Association of Mobility and Technology (Amobitec), an institution that represents some of the main delivery and transport platforms in the country.

These numbers were collected from data from 99, iFood, Uber and Zé Delivery, companies that are part of Amobitec, and also through interviews with more than 3 thousand drivers and couriers from all over Brazil.

Altogether, these platforms raised 1.6 million workers who made at least one trip from August to November 2022. There are around 1.2 million drivers and 385 thousand couriers.

According to the information, 48% of the couriers said they had another job in addition to the services provided via the application and 52% stated that they are dedicated exclusively to work for the apps.

On the driver side, 37% said they had other jobs and 63% claimed that they only work with trips made possible by the platforms.

Most drivers and employers told the researchers that they intended to continue providing services to the platforms (60% of drivers and 80% of couriers).

The survey also reveals that 42% of couriers have a monthly family income of three minimum wages or less (that is, around R$3,900).

In the case of drivers, the average income is higher: 74% declared having a monthly family income of more than three minimum wages, with 34% earning more than six minimum wages.

The average workday for drivers, according to information collected by Cebrap, is between 22 and 31 hours a week, while for couriers it fluctuates between 13 and 17 hours a week.

The estimated net income for a driver who works 40 hours a week is somewhere around R$2,900 to R$4,700, while that of couriers is from R$1,900 to R$3,000.

Regulation of activities

The data was released this Wednesday (12), amid discussions that the government has been holding with app workers and companies to regulate the activity in the country.

The format of the working group to develop this regulation has not yet been disclosed. Representatives of workers and companies are waiting for this definition to be able to officially start negotiations on the matter.

This Wednesday (12), in a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, the Minister of Labor and Employment, Luiz Marinho, said that the government should submit to Congress at the end of the first semester, or possibly in the second, the proposal for the regulation of workers in apps.

The minister pointed out that it will be “difficult” to meet the goal of presenting the proposal by the middle of this year, but that the working group that will take care of the matter will try to finalize a text for deputies and senators to discuss in the second half of this year.

“I think it will be difficult to meet the goal for the first semester, but if the group is very efficient, we will be able to consolidate this work in the first semester, from the first to the second semester, to offer Parliament the possibility of working from there”, observed Marino.

The Minister of Labor highlighted that the regulation made by the government will “observe the quality of work, remuneration, working conditions and job protection”.

“Today it is an activity that has no regulation, so an important item to be considered is the economic framework of this activity. It is necessary to be clear about this, that the applications that work with transport will have to have a single economic activity, today there are several ”, he declared.