Hunt for skilled workers goes high tech

WILLIAMS

The next job hunt of skilled and service-sector Filipino workers no longer needs to mean roaming huge exhibition halls during a job fair.

They can just stay in their own homes, thanks to a new platform that caters specifically to the blue-collar market.

Called FindWork, the job-search application was developed for such workers, a market largely underserved here in the Philippines, says FindWork cofounder and CEO Kevin Williams. Initially created in Indonesia, the app was launched recently here in the country, promising to connect job hunters—or, as Williams puts it, “trabahunters”—to the right jobs based on their experience and location.

“This population, in the Philippines, makes up 56 percent of the total workforce,” says Williams. “Technology sometimes takes humans—the most important part of human resources—for granted, and so when we decided to launch FindWork, [we didn’t make it] just about technology, but also about the people we are reaching out to.”

FindWork has over 500 hiring companies and 40,000 trabahunters on its platform. Such companies include Vivo, SM, Hotel Sogo, Starbucks and Office Warehouse.

Registration on the mobile app is free of charge, while hiring companies who would like to join (via FindWork.io) pay a minimal fee, says Williams.

These companies, he adds, are thoroughly checked and verified before being allowed to post job listings, to protect job seekers.

Trabahunters, on the other hand, will discover that FindWork is easy to use and navigate. After registering (which one can also do by linking his/her Facebook account), the user creates their profile, which basically serves as their CV. Based on their educational background, work experience, location and other relevant profile information, FindWork recommends the most suitable jobs available.

A tracking feature allows trabahunters to see consistent updates on the status of their applications. To ensure that applicants aren’t kept waiting, Williams says hiring companies are also given only five working days to view an application or respond to a trabahunter, otherwise the application disappears.

FindWork Philippines country head Rommel Torres says one of the app’s best features is its geolocation tagging, as it allows trabahunters to land jobs that are not too far from where they live.

FindWork has already entered into a partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to help its 4.1 million certified graduates (2.1 million graduated and 2 million upcoming graduates) increase their chances of employment, says Williams.

To make the app more accessible, FindWork has also partnered with Smart Communications to leverage the telco’s infrastructure to provide data to its users, a market which Williams says is reliant on free data surfing.

Torres clarifies that while the app is a more convenient way to search for jobs, FindWork isn’t here to replace job fairs—in fact, the company holds its own in different cities and provinces.

“We want to communicate with the people, and we’re doing that by partnering with local government units and holding job fairs. We go from barangay to barangay,” says Torres. “The job fairs are specifically for local employment in that area.”

After Metro Manila, FindWork will expand its coverage to Calabarzon in the coming weeks, and Cebu and Davao in the coming months, Torres adds.
“FindWork believes in Filipino talent and wants to showcase this to the fullest extent,” Torres says.