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Carrefour transforms CadÚnico into a gateway for employment and already hires 140,000 people while supermarkets face labor shortages in Brazil
The lack of professionals has become one of the biggest bottlenecks in the food retail sector in Brazil, and the Carrefour Group found a solution in a place that, until recently, was seen almost solely as a tool for social policy, the Cadastro Único, a database used by the government to identify low-income families.
According to a report by Veja, published on June 19, 2026, the company has already hired about 140,000 people registered in CadÚnico since the beginning of the partnership with the federal government in 2023. In 2026 alone, there were more than 30,000 admissions of workers in situations of social vulnerability.
This movement occurs at a time when supermarkets, wholesale clubs, and food retail chains are struggling to attract and retain employees in operational roles. Cashiers, stockers, attendants, store operators, warehouse assistants, and support teams are among the positions most affected by high turnover.
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In practice, Carrefour has started treating CadÚnico as a bridge between those who need income and those who need to hire on a large scale. The strategy combines productive inclusion, formalization of work, and a direct response to the pressure for labor in operations spread across the country.
The social registry is no longer just a gateway to benefits
CadÚnico is known for gathering information on low-income families and serving as a reference for social programs. But, in recent years, the database has also been used in initiatives for productive inclusion, focusing on employment, professional qualification, and income generation.
According to the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, the program Believes in the First Step was created to help registered families improve their lives through work and entrepreneurship. The initiative includes support for job seekers, vocational courses, guidance for small businesses, and access to microcredit.
It is within this environment that the partnership with large companies gained strength. Carrefour appears among the participants of the program alongside other companies, creating jobs and expanding access for vulnerable people to the formal market.
The central point is that the registry has ceased to function only as a snapshot of poverty. It has also started being used as a tool to connect workers to real job openings, especially in sectors with high hiring volumes.
Carrefour saw in CadÚnico an answer to hire on a large scale
The food retail sector depends on large teams and daily presence in stores. Unlike more automated sectors, supermarkets and wholesale clubs need people to operate cash registers, stock shelves, organize inventories, serve customers, receive goods, and maintain the routine of the units.
Therefore, hiring difficulties directly impact the operation. When workers are lacking, the impact is seen in store scales, customer service, product restocking, and the cost of maintaining complete teams.
As reported by the Carrefour Group itself in previous reports about the partnership, the initiative began in March 2023, in Teresina, Piauí, with a much smaller initial goal. By January 2025, the company had already informed the hiring of 53,000 beneficiaries of CadÚnico and Bolsa Família, a number far above the initial forecast.
Now, with around 140,000 accumulated hires, the scale has changed. The action has ceased to be just a one-off social project and has become strategically important for a company that includes brands like Carrefour, Atacadão, and Sam’s Club.
The lack of labor has become a pressure for the entire supermarket sector
The search for workers in the supermarket sector is not an isolated problem for Carrefour. Chains of different sizes have reported difficulty in filling vacancies, especially in entry-level positions, which usually require physical presence, intense schedules, and direct customer service.
The situation is worsened by high turnover. Many workers join, stay for a short time, and move to other activities, whether due to salary, working hours, distance from home, or the search for jobs with a more flexible routine.
Specialized retail publications have been pointing out that supermarkets continue to be an important entry point for first-time employment, but also face challenges in making these roles more attractive. The problem is not just opening vacancies, but being able to retain professionals after hiring.
In this context, recruitment programs aimed at people from CadÚnico can help expand the candidate base. For low-income families, formal employment represents salary, labor rights, social security contributions, and the possibility of growth.
Hiring through CadÚnico also became a showcase for productive inclusion
The strategy earned Carrefour public recognition. The company received the National Socioeconomic Inclusion Award from MDS in the category Insertion into the Labor Market, aimed at companies, states, and municipalities that generated the most opportunities for people registered in the Cadastro Único.
In the edition held in April 2025, the ministry reported that Carrefour led the ranking of companies that employed the most people from CadÚnico, with 69,072 admissions considered in the award. The result helped consolidate the company as one of the largest private employers within the productive inclusion policy.
The award also shows a change in perspective on social programs. The discussion is no longer limited to the payment of benefits and now involves ways to increase income, training, and financial autonomy.
For companies, there is an evident operational gain: access to a broad, identified audience spread across the national territory. For the government, the partnership with the private sector allows transforming social registration into a concrete work opportunity.
The challenge now is to transform hiring into a career
Despite the impressive numbers, the biggest test comes after hiring. Hiring thousands of people solves part of the problem, but the retention of these workers depends on training, work environment, working hours, remuneration, and growth prospects.
That’s why training and professional development programs become important. An entry-level hiring can turn into a career when the worker finds conditions to learn, change roles, and advance within the company.
In the case of Carrefour, the scale of the operation allows absorbing professionals in different areas. There are vacancies in stores, wholesale clubs, purchasing clubs, distribution centers, logistics, customer service, and administrative functions.
The combination of CadÚnico, qualification, and formal employment can become a practical response to two problems at the same time: the vulnerability of families needing income and the lack of labor in sectors that continue hiring.
The solution found by Carrefour could become a model for other companies
The case of Carrefour shows that CadÚnico can be used as a strategic base for productive inclusion, provided that hiring is accompanied by organized processes, training, and integration of new workers.
For the food retail sector, the experience indicates a path amid the difficulty of filling vacancies. Instead of competing for the same candidates in the market, large networks can expand recruitment among people who are outside or on the margins of formal employment.
The progress also reinforces an important change: social programs can be a gateway to work, not just an instrument of income transfer. When there is a partnership with companies, social registration becomes a bridge between need and opportunity.
The question now is whether other networks will follow the same path on a national scale. In a sector pressured by costs, competition, and lack of workers, the answer may lie precisely in bringing together those who need to hire with those who most need a chance.
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