Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
4 min of reading 
0 comments 
Recent Survey Shows Accelerated Growth of App-Based Work and Reveals a Weakness: 71% of Workers Are Informal.
The app-based work has consolidated itself as the main source of income for 1.7 million Brazilians in the 3rd quarter of 2024. The movement has been growing since 2022, when there were 1.3 million, and it now accounts for 1.9% of the employed in the private sector. The boost comes from transport, delivery, and service platforms, but also from a market that rewards flexibility even if it provides little social protection.
At the same time, 71.1% of platform workers are informal, and only 35.9% contribute to social security. According to the G1 portal, the numbers expose a paradox: the more app-based work scales, the more urgent the discussion becomes about rights, income, and security.
Who Is on the Platforms and Where They Are Growing Most
App-based work is predominantly male (83.9%) and concentrated among those aged 25 to 39 (47.3%). Most have educational qualifications of completed high school or incomplete higher education (59.3%), but there is a significant presence of completed higher education (16.6%) often underutilized in tasks that do not require this qualification.
-
Brazilian city bets on the business environment to generate jobs and attract investments in the energy sector — secretary reveals strategy at Macaé Energy 2026.
-
50 viaducts, 4 tunnels, 28 bridges, and 40 kilometers of bike paths: BR-262 in Espírito Santo will receive 8.6 billion reais for the largest engineering project in the state’s history, inspired by the Immigrant Highway in São Paulo.
-
Brazil produces too much clean energy and doesn’t know what to do with it: over 20% of solar and wind capacity was wasted in 2025 while investors flee and 509 renewable generation projects were abandoned in the last year.
-
Piauí will produce a new fuel that replaces diesel without needing to change anything in the truck’s engine and reduces pollutant gas emissions by half: truck drivers from all over the Northeast are already celebrating the news that will arrive later this decade.
Regionally, the Southeast accounts for 53.7% (888 thousand) of workers, establishing itself as the epicenter of the phenomenon. The North and Central-West were the regions that grew the most between 2022 and 2024 (56% and 58.8%, respectively), indicating the interiorization of the model and new pressure for infrastructure, regulation, and oversight.
Among those who rely on the platforms for their primary income, 53.1% work in private passenger transport (878 thousand). Deliveries account for 29.3% (485 thousand), while general/professional services total 17.8% (294 thousand) and taxi apps reach 13.8% (228 thousand). When private transport and taxi services are combined, the group totals 964 thousand people (58.3%).
The detail that changes the landscape: the general/professional services segment accelerated the most since 2022 (52.1% increase), opening up space for specialized and on-demand tasks. This is a sign of diversification of app-based work beyond driving and delivering, with direct impacts on occupational regulation and taxation.
Income vs. Hours: Who Works More Earns a Bit More Per Hour, Less
The average monthly income of platform workers was R$ 2,996, 4.2% higher than that of other private sector workers (R$ 2,875). The apparent bonus has an explanation: the working hours are longer at 44.8 hours per week compared to 39.3 hours. On an hourly basis, the picture reverses: R$ 15.40 per hour, 8.3% below that of non-platform workers (R$ 16.80).
By 2024, the income gap shrank: a growth of 1.2% among platform workers (2022–2024) compared to 6.2% among others. Among those with lower education, the platforms still pay much better; among graduates, they pay less, reflecting underutilization of qualifications and the operational nature of many tasks.
In a nutshell: “You earn more in a month because you work more; per hour, you earn less.”
Seven in ten platform workers are informal (71.1%), a level much higher than the private sector average (44.3%). Only 35.9% contribute to social security, a number that drops sharply in the North (15.4%) and improves in the South (51.8%).
The consequences are direct: without contributions, there is no coverage for illness, accidents, or old age. This is the silent bill of app-based work, which shifts social risk and cost onto the individual and the public system while the service scales up.
Autonomy Under the Algorithm: Who Decides Price, Client, and Deadline?
The majority of workers report low autonomy over pricing, client selection, and payments a key trait of app-based work. The value received is determined by the platform for 91.2% of app drivers, 81.3% of delivery workers, and 79.4% of taxi app drivers.
Deadlines are also mostly imposed: 70.4% of delivery workers and 54.8% of drivers. General/specialized services have the least dependency, but the pattern remains: it is the algorithm that dictates the pace, compressing individual negotiation. In practice, “autonomy” becomes availability and availability becomes income.
Among car drivers, platform workers earn, on average, R$ 341 more per month than non-platform workers, but work about 5 more hours per week.
Among motorcycle drivers, the participation of apps has already reached one third of the total: the group grew by 140 thousand between 2022 and 2024, while the contingent outside the apps fell by 53 thousand. App-based motorcyclists earn 28.2% more, yet with 3.9 additional weekly hours — and with informality well above the average.
Translation of the data into routine: more time connected is a condition for maintaining income; without social protection, the cost of risk falls on the worker.
What the Numbers Suggest for 2025 and Beyond
The advancement of app-based work confirms three trends:
- Scale with Heterogeneity: transport remains dominant, specialized services gain traction.
- Income Tied to Hours: the monthly bonus depends on the length of the working hours; per hour, there is relative loss.
- Protection Is a Bottleneck: high informality and low pension contributions create cumulative social risk.
Without mechanisms that unite flexibility and protection—simplified contributions, coverage against accidents, and algorithmic transparency—the model will continue to transfer risk to the base. And the base consists of 1.7 million people.
The indicators show a robust market, but sustained by long hours, limited autonomy, and little protection. App-based work is no longer an exception; it is infrastructure of everyday life.
And you, who works through apps or hires these services:
Has your hourly income gone up or down for you in 2024?
Does the platform’s algorithm provide real options for pricing and deadlines, or do you only accept or decline?
Can contributing to social security fit into your budget today? How do you protect yourself from unforeseen events?
Do you agree with this reading? Do you think the current format is sustainable or needs to change now? Leave your opinion in the comments we want to hear from those who live this in practice.
Seja o primeiro a reagir!