MANILA, PHILIPPINES – MyKuya, a super app that offers personal on-demand services, is expanding its services and kickstarting new initiatives in order to provide more job opportunities for Filipinos.
When the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was first imposed in the Philippines, many businesses laid off most of their workers to manage costs. According to the labor department, more than 1 million workers were affected by business suspensions.
One of MyKuya’s new partnerships is with Ayala Land subsidiary Ayala Malls, as well as its own brands such as Ayala Malls Circuit, Glorietta, and more.
The partnership was formed to provide consumers living near the Ayala Malls in Metro Manila more stores to shop from and a more convenient way to get them without having to go outside; this reduces the hassle of stopping at various checkpoints that their MyKuya personal assistants — called Kuyas and Ates — have to go through.
MyKuya users can now tap the icon pertaining to Ayala Malls in the app and book a Kuya or Ate to purchase goods that are currently available in the mall. Users can also tell their Kuya or Ate to purchase items from multiple stores in just one booking, streamlining the entire process.
In cases where cash purchases might exceed P1,000, users can transfer additional money to their Kuya or Ate through GCash or hand the petty cash when the partner rider meets them.
The initiative aims not only to benefit MyKuya users but to empower Kuyas and Ates to take on meaningful work.
“The pandemic forced several businesses and establishments to suspend operations, greatly affecting employees, especially those working under a contractual arrangement. With Ayala Malls and their merchants finally opening their doors to us, we will now be able to keep up with our users’ growing demand of places to shop from and onboard more Kuyas and Ates who need a source of income,” said Shahab Shabibi, founder of MyKuya.
When MyKuya launched in 2017, one of its main goals was to create job opportunities for 1 million Filipinos by 2022.
With ECQ still imposed in many parts of the Philippines, MyKuya continues to innovate and alleviate the problems that most Filipinos experience. In March alone, when the ECQ started, MyKuya created job opportunities for almost 10,000 Filipinos.
The company also launched an online job fair and received a record of 1,000 applications in just 45 minutes.
“Many of the people we’ve onboard are actually former contractual workers for industries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. They were already struggling with their working and living conditions then and even more so when they were laid off because of the ECQ,” said Shabibi, “We at MyKuya are committed to alleviating their burdens by giving them the chance to work.”
Until today, the company values its partner riders by ensuring that they are equipped with face masks, sanitizers, and gloves to do their job well, and seamlessly distributing their salaries through e-wallet app GCash.
As Filipinos face the remaining days of the quarantine period, MyKuya vows to continuously expand its services and initiatives to cater to every member of its community.
