While some people can make a career out of finding jobs for people, LokalPe is doing that, but for free. It is the first app where blue-collar workers can create ‘Profile Videos’ and ‘Skill videos’ to get hired, and presently it is free of charge for job seekers in the various towns of India.
And while its full version launched only in September, the company is reporting strong traction.
“To be frank, we haven’t marketed our app aggressively on a national level, but that’s because Delhi-NCR, UP, Telangana, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, the main states we are concentrating on, account for about 61 per cent of the job seekers in India,” says Co-founder Ankush Sharma, adding that this is why LokalPe is so insistent about concentrating on employment at a micro level.
“If we can find jobs for people in their towns and villages, and can reduce this constant migration by even 5 per cent, we think that will make a substantial difference.”
The app allows blue-collar employees to demonstrate their skills and upskill themselves by seeking suitable jobs amongst their own towns, and can also demonstrate their competence by sharing their skill videos.
“We use our AI to provide a platform for job seekers to find jobs hyper-locally with any level of skill set,” says Sharma, adding, “Via the app, local communities can hire people around them for various work segments such as sales executives, delivery agents, small and big eateries, driving, cooking at houses.”
While the response has been positive, with the app seeing 20,000-plus downloads since its launch, Sharma admits that the linking of employees and employers still has a long way to go, with just 10-11 per cent of vacancies having been filled so far.
“People are not used to this format of video resumes and skill demonstration videos to look for workers. Even when a company like Ola started, people were wary of using an app to hire a cab. So, it will take time to catch on,” says Sharma.
Then there is the skill-level of potential employees.
“One major issue I have seen from the time we launched the beta version, is that people’s skills don’t match what employees are exactly looking for. Like they will be called for interviews but then might not be what companies are looking for. Our team is working tirelessly every day to fine-tune our AI, and it is becoming more exact,” says Sharma, adding that so far, the biggest users of the service have been companies like Delhi-very, Flipkart, retail stores, as well as insurance and banking sales companies.
It is these companies who use LokalPe’s web services in fact, which is a subscription-based service where employers can get lists of potential employees whom they can shortlist for hiring.
The company also plans to launch a consultancy module by the end of January 2021, which will act as a central database for the many small HR companies strewn across the country.