- Jobs is, a blue-collar job board launched in 2016, trusted by over 35000 SMBs, startups, and enterprises to hire informal & blue-collar workers.
- It plans to expand to 12 more (Tier II & Tier III) Indian cities along with a few global cities and include regional languages on the platform within the next 12 months.
- Its main focus point is bridging the gap between skill (jobseekers) and opportunity (employers).
Digitization has changed almost every component of how this world functions. Whether it’s good or bad depends upon one’s perspective of things. But one thing humans are very grateful to digitization for is the change of the way people search for jobs as well as hire employees or workers. People can now find jobs and hire staff at the click of their fingertips, thanks to various online job boards, job posting sites or job search apps. Platforms like Naukri have connected lakhs of job-seekers with prospective employers. The job portal became so popular amongst white-collar job sector that in the year 2015, over 40 million people were registered to it. But as the white-collar workers made a quick leap to this bandwagon, blue-collar workers were left behind. According to a report by the BetterPlace, 92% of the blue-collar workers are fragmented and unorganized, less than 5% have any formal skills and less than 1% of these workers have access to banking services. The problems for blue-collar workers are plenty – inflexible working hours, impossible targets and no job security are the most plaguing ones however.
Recruitment in Unorganized Informal Sector until Recently
Inarguably, the recruitment of staff is one of the most important tasks for any startup or SMB. For many years, recruitment used to be done with the help of local newspapers, employment offices and placement agencies to get the required staff. “But as technology came in, these traditional methods became in-effective as compared to new methods what technology offered to mankind. The reach of a local newspaper or placement agency is limited. Every skilled or semi-skilled candidate might not read the particular newspaper in which a vacancy is posted and then it is costly too.” says Beniwal
He adds, “Due to such limitations, several capable candidates could never be hired at the right job. Also, hiring an employee via these methods could take up days.” As a recruiter need to send details to a newspaper agency or placement agency first and then the vacancy is published in the newspaper or candidates are screened by the placement agency. After that an employer will start receiving applications. In both these options hiring cost can be a significant amount of money, which startups or SMBs can’t afford.
That’s why improvement or better options were in requirement always. Then technology gave us different types of recruitment sites like job portals, job aggregators, job posting sites & job search sites also came in. And in recent years, jobs apps (mobile apps) in the form of job search apps or job posting apps are also accessible by any employer or jobseeker. “With such sites or apps, recruiters could reach potential employees at a lower cost & at a faster pace than before. But even till recent times, such sites or apps only catered to the white collar jobs sector.” Kishore Beniwal.
90% of India’s workforce works in the unorganized informal sector i.e. over 400 million skilled or semi-skilled workers. In India, 80% of people are considered to be in the bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP). In 2005, the number of people in the BoP was over 1 billion. This figure was projected to decrease by 2015 to 997 million i.e. a matter of concern as these people i.e. 5 out of 6 people earn a monthly household income of less than 16,667 INR and in turn can’t even afford the basic amenities of life.
In urban India, people with an annual household income of less than 2,00,000 INR are considered to be BoP. Whereas in rural India, this amount goes down to 1,60,000 INR. “These figures are staggering and eye-opening in many ways. The workers (& their families) working in unorganized sector of India doesn’t enjoy social security or job security as compared to the white collar employees. Employers, recruiters & middlemen exploit them, especially women, and thus, they are not able to achieve any stability in their life. This is also a very fragmented sector and in need of some concrete solutions.” says Kishore.
Story of Just.Jobs, the Bridge between Employers and Jobseekers
“One of our initial customers (an employer), Alok Kumar who runs a food joint in Mumbai, shared his story with us. He was looking for a Chinese cook as his current chef left him. For over 2 months, his search continued. His business was suffering due to it which made him frantic. He used all the means to find a suitable Chinese chef in Mumbai such as brokers, agents and placement agencies but he couldn’t get an appropriate skilled candidate from them. He also tried to take help from neighbors and friends. And then one day when his friend asked him to look for a solution online, he reached to Just.Jobs where with a simple job post, his problem was solved within the next 4 days. And within a month, his food joint was back to making usual profits.” Kishore shares.
He adds, “What proved to Just.Jobs advantage is that it provides a direct connection between the employers and the job seekers. There are no middlemen involved which means no unnecessary hidden charges or delays in finding a suitable match for your job application. Both finding and posting for jobs is quick, efficient and hassle-free. We understand that In this age of technology, this is the bare minimum required from job-search websites.”
Just.Jobs is available to the customers via website as well as through an Android mobile app. Beniwal about the Just Jobs app, “Just.Jobs offers a free mobile app for job seekers which they can download from Google Play Store in an android mobile phone. We have strived to make an app that is simple to understand, has a quick interface and very convenient to use”
The Internet base of India is large and is also growing at an exponential rate each passing year. 97% of the total internet users in India access the internet via mobile phone devices. This directly implicates that a mobile site or mobile app is a necessity to provide the best or a decent experience to employers as well as job seekers of informal sector of India. “70-80% employers access our platform via mobile and in case of jobseekers, the percentage increases to 90%+. And that’s why since day 1, we have focused to build a mobile first platform. The data shows it and we cannot deny it.” Kishore tells.
As proven by numbers, major part of digital India access internet via mobile. “So it’s only feasible that job boards, including or especially targeting informal jobs sector in India, follow suit. With Just.Jobs, we aim to achieve complete digitization of job search process for informal sector jobseekers.” Kishore tells. Jobseekers registered on Just Jobs can opt in for weekly/monthly job alerts, where they receive latest job profiles in SMS or email or both matching their work profile for free. These regular alerts assist job seekers, belonging to informal jobs sector who may be non-tech friendly, to apply on latest matching job profiles with a single click received in SMS or email. Just Jobs has a simple yet to the point single page form for employers with which they can register & post a free job on the platform.
“We don’t offer a hardcore ATS platform for employers. It can be too complex to first understand and then use by employers belonging to SMBs or informal sector in India. Our employer dashboard offers an employer to easily manage applicants & job posts, edit profile or company information, upgrade to or buy a hiring plan and unlock or manage unlocked database.” Kishore shares. On Just Jobs, every candidate which applies on any job post, his or her basic information is immediately shared with respective employer via SMS as well as email to create a quick & easy connection between potential employers and jobseekers.
Pricing: Suitable For Informal Sector Job-seekers And Employers
While creating a product for people of the informal sector, one can’t ignore the price consideration. Most of the blue-collar workers might always be short on pocket when it comes to paying a price to find a job. Even the startups or SMBs doesn’t possess big budgets like MNCs or enterprises. Hiring the right and skilled staff is important but SMBs cannot afford to burn a hole in their pockets while doing so. Traditional methods to hire staff for them have always been costly along with being ineffective and slow. Due to which employers are not able to connect with the right candidates and skill is not able to connect with the right opportunities.
“Pricing around Just.Jobs is designed keeping all these points in mind and according a feasible pricing plan is offered for employers as well as job-seekers. Searching or applying for jobs is completely free for job seekers with Just Jobs, it means Just Jobs is completely free for job-seekers. For employers, they can post their first job for free and apart from that, there are nominal pricing or hiring plans available for businesses of all sizes i.e. small, medium and large to hire blue-collar skilled workers which I am sure is definitely affordable and suitable for them to hire staff or personnel.” Kishore shares.
Competition in the Market
Just.Jobs is however not the only job board dedicated for the informal jobs sector in India. Some of its competitors are OLX Jobs and Quikr Jobs. “The ease of use of Just Jobs is what provides the competitive edge over other blue-collar job boards in the market. It is the most essential aspect especially for the people belonging to the informal sector. Registration form at Just Jobs is short and takes in minimal & only essential information from a jobseeker or an employer which makes the process of registering as well as job posting quick as well as easy. Just Jobs is designed keeping in mind the fact that some of it’s end-users may not be digitally aware. It aims to achieve for informal sector workers what Naukri did for white-collar employees years ago, which revolutionized the way people search and apply for jobs. It’s only fair that the same benefits accrue to the blue-collar workers as well.” Kishore tells us.
The Road Ahead
Just.Jobs is proud to be bootstrapped and achieve what it has achieved till now. It is a trusted blue-collar job board in India that’s been used by over 38000+ SMBs, startups, and enterprises to hire informal & blue-collar workers. It plans to expand to 12 more Indian cities (mainly Tier II & Tier III) along with a few global cities and include regional languages on the platform within the next 12 months. But the main focus point of growth for Just.Jobs has always been easy & fast connectivity between skill (jobseekers) and opportunity (employers).
“Mass of people in India belongs to the informal sector of India and major part of India’s workforce belongs to the blue-collar sector in India. Plus, the formal sector or people belonging to the formal sector are directly or indirectly dependent on the informal sector. Still, the informal sector of India remains to be underserved & under-developed. When it comes to the scenario of jobs, working conditions, career & growth for the people of the informal sector, they deprive in terms of resources and facilities as compared to the white collar job sector. Existence of lack of appropriate opportunities and unawareness regarding the available opportunities or how to find the same makes difficult for the job seekers to build or move up in their career. Focus has always been on the formal or white-collar sector, but for the right and complete development of the economy, it’s important to develop the informal sector of the nation as well. Just Jobs is built on the same mission and looks to connect skills with opportunity.” Kishore Beniwal tells us.
