Meet the startups helping blue and grey collar workers upskill and find jobs amidst COVID-19
Amidst the pandemic, millions of migrant workers had to deal with the loss of income, food shortages, and lingering uncertainty. SocialStory lists a few startups that have been helping the migrant workforce and blue-collar workers upskill and find jobs.
Millions of migrant workers in India lost their livelihood overnight amidst the coronavirus pandemic because of the lockdown. Thousands of interstate migrant labourers – majority a belonging to socially marginalised communities - trudged home barefoot, hungry, and thirsty.
Layoffs became a reality that people working in many blue and grey collar sectors could not avoid.
According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), about 121 million jobs that were lost in April recovered when 110 million jobs came back during May, June, and July.
However, more than 5.5 lakh jobs were lost just in the month of October.
But there’s a silver lining amidst the cloud. Many startups are trying to do their part by addressing migrant labour concerns through their platforms.
SocialStory rounds up startups that are either upskilling migrant workers or providing them with job opportunities based on their skill sets.
GlobalSkill
GlobalSkill app
Thane-based edtech startup was launched to help blue and grey collar employees, underprivileged job seekers, and students improve their skills. Founded in 2019 by Rajan Gaonkar and Atul Shirwadkar, it aims to help one million underprivileged youth develop industry-oriented skills to find better employment opportunities.
The platform has four kinds of users: people doing skill education courses, people seeking jobs, employers posting about job requirements, and video course creators publishing content.
Registration is free, but each course has a nominal fee that helps content creators get an additional income. The founders are trying to put up certain courses up for free to help others.
Jobsgaar
Representational image (Source: Jobsgaar.com)
Founded in 2020 by Atul Pratap Singh, UP-based aims to empower migrant workers who returned home during the lockdown by connecting them with the right employers in their cities, towns, or villages.
Every Indian town has mithai shops, petrol pumps, saree shops, bike or car dealerships, distributor networks, etc. Jobsgaar tries to connect local job seekers with these opportunities, disrupting the issue of migration in small towns and cities.
Amidst the pandemic, Jobsgaar extended its services to all job seekers with the right qualifications. It claims to have helped about 6,000 people find jobs amidst the pandemic.
LokalPe
Job seekers can add 15-second skill videos to their resumes
A platform that sprang into action during the pandemic, claims to have filled up more than 2,000 vacancies in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. Co-founded by Ankush Sharma, the Bengaluru-based startup caters to skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled workers.
It helps applicants look for small jobs in their area and, using 15-second video resumes, choose from over 5,000 vacancies ranging from cook, plumber, security guard, florist, restaurant staff, etc.
The platform is free for job seekers. It charges employers on a per-hire basis, and offers various hiring packages.
Apna
Apna.co Founder & CEO Nirmit Parikh
Founded in December 2019 by Nirmit Parikh, Apna is a network for skilled blue and grey collar professionals like carpenters, painters, sales agents, etc. It claims to engage more than 1.2 million users on its platform.
Interested candidates can build their profile and connect with the employer directly through the app. They can then fix up interviews and get their desired job from the various categories, including accounts, finance, beauty, technical, carpentry, etc.
Apna claims to have generated more than 2.7 million job interviews for blue and grey collar workers.
Edited by Teja Lele