Do you have experience working in the hospitality industry, currently having no job, but want to make some extra money? Or do your parents have a restaurant and sometimes have staff shortage? Ploy will help you with these struggles.
Ploy is a smartphone application from Randstad, a worldwide employment agency (Randstad, 2016). It is a platform, comparable to Uber and AirBnB, but then specifically for the labor market (Randstad, 2016). From now on, you can earn some extra money using just your smartphone.
The idea is really simple. Imagine that Tim is the owner of a successful Italian restaurant in Rotterdam. He knows that he needs a lot of staff this Saturday, since the weather is going to be great. However, after asking all his employees, Tim is afraid he will not have enough staff for Saturday. Ploy can help Tim with that. In just a couple of minutes, Tim can generate a vacancy, asking for a waiter or waitress this Saturday. After creating the vacancy, it will be send to possible candidates. Lara, a BIM student at the Erasmus University, has an account on Ploy. She receives the vacancy and can use some extra money. She therefore indicates that she is available. Tim receives all possible candidates and can select the most preferred one, based on ratings and reviews. Now, Tim will have enough staff to serve all his customers on Saturday and Lara will get a compensation in return (Ploy, 2016; FD, 2016).
Ploy, first introduced in Belgium, is aiming on so called ‘slashers’. This are people having multiple part-time jobs (e.g. teacher, slash waiter) (FD, 2016). An increase in the number of ‘slashers’ is visible. In 2014, of all people having a job, 9% had more than one job. This is a large increase compared to the 3% of twenty years ago (FD, 2016). Hence, Ploy is targeting a growing market. Late September this year, the app was also introduced in Amsterdam.
In the last decade, platforms, such as Uber and AirBnB, are changing the business models of markets. With the introduction of Ploy, also the labor market is facing this new direction. Will this be the future of applying for jobs?
References:
FD (2016) ‘Randstad lanceert app die Uber van de arbeidsmarkt moet worden’, available from https://fd.nl/economie-politiek/1170031/randstad-lanceert-app-die-de-uber-van-de-arbeidsmarkt-moet-worden [04-10-2016]
Ploy (2016) ‘Neem je werk in handen met Ploy’, available from https://www.ploy.be/nl [04-10-2016]
Randstad (2016) ‘Over Randstad’, available from https://www.randstad.nl/over-randstad [04-10-2016]
Randstad (2016) ‘Online Marketeer Ploy (start-up) – Randstad Groep Nederland‘, available from https://vacaturesbij.randstad.nl/vacatures/details/online-marketeer-ploy-start-up-randstad-groep-nederland/ [04-10-2016]
Hi Rick, thank you for your blog! I think this is a great application, and I think it is very suitable for the job market of the future. More and more companies are employing flexible workers, and this app could help them find suitable candidates. However, as with the implementation of Uber, I think the app will also pose some governmental/legal challenges. For example, who pays taxes, and how are employees protected? I am sure that as time passes, these questions will get answers. Personally, I think Ploy is a great idea!