Three Tech Start-Ups Improving Job-Matching

Innovative players in the job-matching industry are trying to bridge the information gap in labor markets through a number of tech-enabled applications. Here are three tech companies that are changing the way job seekers – particularly young people – find employment:

1. Souktel, Palestine.

Through simple SMS or voice-based applications, Souktel has become a game-changer among communities with low internet penetration.

Founded in 2006, the company has already placed over 20,000 people in jobs in the Middle East and North Africa. Souktel first enabled job seekers to create a profile by sending a series of text messages, and employers to post jobs the same way. Once the basic Souktel (‘bazaar’) was established, these profiles and listings were made searchable.

Souktel has not only bridged the information gap between young Palestinians and employers, it has also helped many non-profits and development organizations recruit talent in regions where finding the right person for the job is a huge challenge. Souktel now operates in more than 20 countries and across six product platforms that adapt technology to local labor market conditions.

2. Viridis Learning, United States of America.

The founder of Viridis Learning, Felix Ortiz III, saw the gap between middle class aspirations and the job market growing in the United States and wanted to facilitate upward mobility for people who couldn’t afford an expensive higher education.

Viridis Learning invented the “employability score” – an algorithm that analyzes each candidate’s capabilities in areas such as knowledge, company culture, work ethics and personality – to match them with available positions. The application also recommends a certified course or training module that will enhance the young person’s employability score.

Going forward, Viridis Learning’s contributions to improving the quality of life for workers will become more critical in the context of the USA’s Workforce and Innovation Opportunity Act (July 2014). The government will invest heavily in vocational training and employment services. Viridis can help young people think more strategically about their future by choosing the right training course aligned with market demand.

3. Flexing It, India.

In a rapidly growing India, some professionals have moved beyond the traditional middle class interest in job security and economic stability. Indian industry now has its disposal an ecosystem of freelancers, which includes young mothers as much as former corporate top dogs, creatives as much as techies.

Qualified professionals seeking flexibility and output-based remuneration have found new opportunity in Flexing It, a company with more than 800 clients who are looking to hire talent across the technology, social and environmental sectors. More than 9,000 professionals looking for short-term consulting assignments and projects are registered on its platform.

With these trends picking up worldwide, there may soon be a time when both job seekers and employers will have to look no further than their mobile screens.

(Disclaimer: JustJobs Network is not engaged in any kind of commercial agreement with any of the companies profiled here.)