KQwest

Our solution is looking to empower the stakeholders of the contingent economy namely – unemployed or underemployed individuals (youth, women and low-education workers) who are eager for opportunities for work and income and the organisations that increasingly require the contingent labour to meet organisational needs and economic demands.

 Currently, there is little transparency in the information pipeline between job seekers and the companies lacking of manpower. Even as more people undergo upskilling or reskilling courses, it is not easy to find a matching career opportunity.

 As such, our digital platform will provide industry-relevant courses that will provide continuous upgrading and upskilling of the contingent labour pool while directly connecting them to the relevant organisations for employment. The platform also enables organisations to efficiently and effectively find trained labour pool to meet increasing job demands.

The contingent economy, alternative workforce or informal work is not new to Indonesia, an emerging economy. With rise of the new digital economy, there are new and more lucrative opportunities for work for people and corporates. Previously left to market forces, the team aims to enable a certain formalisation of these informal work and the workforce that contributes positively to the lives of the workers.

Indonesia has a large youth population of (65M) as productive workforce whose current potential is not properly utilised, with high youth unemployment rate of more than 15% since 2011. The pandemic has caused more than 2.67 million Indonesians losing their jobs in 2020. Although the percentage of informal workers have increased, many are still unemployed. The current low levels of education, inadequate vocational training programs and digital skills deficit are some of the contributing factors to the vulnerability of the workforce to changes driven by technological advancement and economic disruption caused by the pandemic.

On the other hand, more companies are changing their management of human capital, to include non-traditional employment methods, so as to continue to deliver on their responsibilities to their employees, customers and shareholders. With the shift in society’s behaviour towards online and on-demand services, the alternative workforce will increasingly prove to be valuable network enablers.

Hence, there is a current and growing need for the workforce to be able to reskill, upskill and diversify their employment opportunities according to market needs.

According to reports, almost 70% of the Indonesian population will be of working age (15-64 years) in the next decade. Our solution aims to serve mainly three groups:

• Youths are more likely to be more tech-savvy and adaptable, there is fierce competition for traditional formal jobs and with many employers’ pause on hiring in this pandemic situation. High rates of youth unemployed or underemployed indicates a substantial underutilised productive workforce.
• Whereas, working mothers, prefer flexible working hours so as to work and take care of the family. This have resulted in many of them working in the informal sector or difficulties in finding jobs that are flexible and can accommodate to their needs.
• Similarly, low-education workers are vulnerable to market forces, which influence their ability to keep their jobs or otherwise if they can secure another quickly to maintain their income. In view of these circumstances, many have turned to innovative and alternative work options instead, which provides lower barrier opportunities and options.

Our solution will address their needs to be able to gain the relevant skills, training and credibility to be able to gain employment and career progression opportunities. Our current approach is to understand what opportunities are there in the job market and also to tailor relevant courses according to market needs.

Besides moving towards more formalization of the alternative workforce, our solution aims to create a digital ecosystem to equip the labour force and broaden their reach and connect them to more organisations for employment opportunities.

By equipping these workers with industry-relevant knowledge and applicable skills, on-the-job training (OJT) and certification through the platform, this will efficiently enhance the employability and skill sets of the workers. With these, youths, women and low-educated workers are enabled to be more resilient to changes caused by the current circumstances and the economy in general.

Equally, corporates looking to hire more workers for the increasing on-demand services required are able to obtain efficiencies in managing their workforce, while our solution upskills and reskills the workforce to the demands of employers.  

With technology and the shift towards a contingent workforce, the platform strives to create a more transparent information pipeline between the labour and companies lacking manpower, while supporting the target population to undergo tailored training in skills that creates potential for progress within the sector as well.

CEO, Mr Rayvan Ho

We are looking to scale our solution reaching at least 100k people across Indonesia in the first year. Our impact goals are as such:

1. Advancing the potential and capabilities of the youth, women and low-education workers in Indonesia.

• Through the platform, users are able to learn, reskill and upskill for the jobs that are currently in demand so as to find a relevant job that can be a primary source of income for them. Given the rapid expansion of on-demand services provided by companies, there will be a need for trained labour pool in the alternative workforce. This trained labour pool will thus be contributing to the economy as well. Aligned with UNSDG 8 targets, our solution aims to support the training of our target group to be able to achieve employment and training and by connecting them to the relevant companies. With the right talent and trained labour, the economy can achieve higher levels of productivity.

2. Promoting lifelong learning and hence, better career opportunities for the youth, women and low-education workers. 

•  The platform provides affordable industry-relevant courses and on-the-job training, which aims to equip more to have the relevant skills – both technical and vocational skills, for employment and progression. Based on their profile and aspirations, individuals can enhance their skillsets to advance in career or job roles. Aligned with UNSDG 4 targets, our solution aims to promote youth, women and low-education workers to participate in quality and lifelong learning, thus enhancing their abilities to get decent employment.

These are some metrics that we would measure:

• Number of successful placements of trained workers
• Number of certified users
• Number of enterprises/companies partnered with us
• Conversion of untrained to trained workers
• Proxy of increment in income for the target groups

Our multidisciplinary team, led by seasoned digital business strategists, consists of experienced educators, developers and designers who are deep in both technology and business. The multidisciplinary and agility of the team allows us to confront complex problems from multiple perspectives that consider the needs of our target population. Hence, developing a holistic solution, which addresses integral touch points along the way.

Our team have already been in the business of transforming current learning and development for corporates and academies to make learning easily accessible. Together with partnerships with several educational and vocational institutes, this provides us access to quality industry-relevant courses that will aptly bridge the skills of the Indonesian workforce to the demands of the employers.