Local entrepreneurs must be seeing opportunity in rising unemployment rates during the current economic climate. First it was job-matching service Vawch.com, which we recently featured. Today we look at its similar online service Jorbb.com, officially announced last week.
Unlike other job search portals that focuses on executive positions, Jorbb.com concentrates on non-executive jobs for individuals seeking freelance, contract, part-time and casual employment.
Founder and Managing Director of Jorbb.com, Shen Heng, explains the reason behind the online service. “One day I chanced upon this handwritten notice outside a shop, seeking part-time sales staff. Further along, there was yet another sign looking for casual event promoters. How many ‘relevant hits’ do they get? The online job classifieds market is saturated with executive (jobs), but what about the part time, casual, temporary, freelance and contract job seekers? Where can they make themselves available for hire?” he asked. Jorbb.com was conceived to plug that gap.
The online job portal not only allows posting of resumes, but also photos, slideshows and video profiles. A ‘Tag-A-Friend’ feature allows users to tag friends or employers in their profile page and ‘follow’ their latest successful job application or new jobs posted. Interestingly, Jorbb.com is partnering fellow startup Gothere.sg for the latter’s transport and commuting data, an encouraging sign for the entrepreneurial scene in Singapore.
Restricting to non-executive positions may seem to limit Jorbb.com‘s potential, but Shen believes that there is still opportunity for growth. “In Singapore, over the last 7 years, there has been an increase of 13 per cent in contract/casual workers and NTUC has recently launched re-employment initiatives to bring people back into the workforce. I foresee that this trend will continue to grow, especially in 3 areas – 1. Retirees going back into the workforce, 2. Stay home moms/employed workers looking for multiple streams of income and 3. More students taking up part time work as better opportunities present themselves especially in the service sector,” he says.
Jorbb.com is not Shen’s first startup. He founded H1Studio, which provides design consultancy services in the areas of 3D visualisation and interactive media, back in the early 2000. Shen put that business on hold to take up full-time employment and only recently re-established H1Studio and set up Jorbb.com.
“Some of (these full-time jobs) which were out of my professional training,” reveals Shen, who was trained as an architect. “I believe that it is important to gain experience and to be away from your comfort zone.”
