MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Though the ongoing enhanced community quarantine has thrown most businesses into a period of loss and uncertainty, that hasn’t stopped super app MyKuya from making a meaningful impact on the community around them. In fact, MyKuya has created new opportunities for close to 10,000 people in the whole of March. A recent online job fair by the company has even seen about 1,000 people apply in as little as 45 minutes – all part of the 10,000 total they’ve seen in the past few weeks.
And they’re still looking to do more.
It goes without saying that Filipino workers are quite affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent statement by the country’s Labor Department, upwards of 1 million workers were affected by temporary closures, with a majority of affected workers said to be from the manufacturing, hospitality, restaurant, and the tourism industries.
Fortunately, there are companies who have already taken initiative to mitigate the sudden spike in unemployment, even in the middle of the crisis. One of these is on-demand service super app MyKuya.
MyKuya at your service
Based in BGC, the app lets users hire a personal assistant (known as Kuyas and Ates) with just a few quick clicks. These Kuyas and Ates can do just about everything: whether picking up groceries, standing in line to pay bills for you, or delivering or picking something up on a motorbike. Prior to the quarantine period, cleaning services, carwashing and massage services were also in high demand. Currently, the company serves the entire Metro Manila, with some areas in the wider Mega Manila area also starting to receive some support.
But MyKuya isn’t limited to just helping individuals out either. Through its platform, businesses like manpower agencies and traditional service providers are also able to scale up their operations by sourcing talent through MyKuya. Truly, MyKuya’s biggest draw is that it’s an easy and reliable digital marketplace for hiring services in real-time.
The convenience offered by the app has proven to be a game-changer during the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine and they’ve already created a massive amount of new jobs in the past few weeks.
This ties in perfectly with the fact that since the company’s founding in 2017, their main mission has always been to create 1 million job opportunities for Filipinos by 2022. The goal is displayed proudly on the MyKuya website, with the company believing that creating economic opportunities is the best way to adhere to the values of bayanihan and nation-building.
“Since the lockdown started, we’ve seen more people signing up to be users on the app,” said MyKuya founder Shahab Shabibi. “Naturally, this means we’ve also been able to hire more Kuyas and Ates to be a part of our team as well. It’s actually during the enhanced community quarantine that we’ve seen our numbers swell up more than ever before. During the enhanced community quarantine period alone, over 2,000 have already gotten their MyKuya accounts activated and nearly 7,000 onboarded.”
Making a meaningful impact through jobs
As much as possible, the company has been working to ensure that they can enable as many jobs as they can.
This stands in stark contrast with the ongoing situation of many companies around the country, whose workers have been put on “no work, no pay” arrangements indefinitely or even outright laid off.
The dire situation has prompted calls from prominent business figures to allow businesses to reopen even at 50% capacity, to slowly restart the nation’s economy.
“Many of the people we’ve seen signing up were actually from the industries hardest hit by the pandemic. A lot of them were contractual workers, already living day-to-day.”
“So it’s very important to them that they can continue to provide for their families during their difficult time,” Shabibi continued. “But with MyKuya, affected workers can find a way to work as early as now, all while helping others and servicing the community around them. Not only do they get the financial benefit, but they can be proud of the fact that they really provide a critical service to their fellow Filipinos.”
Not just a typical place to work
Yet MyKuya isn’t just about hiring as many people as they can. Once onboard, Kuyas and Ates can expect a caring environment that puts their safety first.
“First thing is we always make sure those working with us are 100% volunteer partners, since there’s a certain risk that comes with being out at a time like this,” acknowledges Shabibi. “One of the safety precautions we then take is that we always make sure our talent has masks, sanitizers and alcohol whenever they go out and do their jobs. We coordinate with our Enterprise Partners to make sure this happens.”
Aside from that, Shabibi also details that temperature checks are regularly done, social distancing is emphasized, and only those under 45 are allowed to work at this time.
“These measures ensure our talent can provide a valuable service while staying safe. This protects not only our team, but also the community that they’ll be interacting with.”
Job creation today and tomorrow
Though job creation is always relevant, it’s all the more the case in the middle of the current crisis.
Of course, Shahab Shabibi confesses the middle of a pandemic isn’t exactly how he pictured the company would create new opportunities.
But even with the volume of applications MyKuya has to sift through right now, they remain ready to receive more.
“We’re ready to onboard another 15,000 Kuyas and Ates,” Shabibi shared. “After all, every new Kuya and Ate means one more person that we can provide gainful employment for. In turn, each Kuya and Ate can serve hundreds of Filipinos over the course of a month, people whose lives we can make that much easier. By becoming an Enterprise Partner, businesses can even quickly source talent and better manage the manpower they have.”
“Everybody helps each other out,” he concludes. “Right now, what can be more important than that?”
