This Startup Is Fighting The Great Resignation With A Better Approach To Hiring Hourly Wage Workers

Behind the buzzword, “The Great Resignation,” comes a new war for talent. In many industries, this increasing shortage of talent boils down to three key problem areas: 1) poor pay, 2) poor scheduling and flexibility, and 3) poor working conditions. To add to the friction between employers and employees, a recent McKinsey survey found that 62% of contract, freelance, and temporary workers would prefer to work as permanent employees. However, 70% of executives expect to hire more gig workers come 2022. So the question becomes, how do we address both sides of the issue? 

One startup that is tackling this issue is WorkWhile. CEO and Co-Founder Jarah Euston previously held a number of Growth and Analytics roles at Silicon Valley companies like Nexla, Yahoo, and Flurry, but when starting her latest company, she reconnected with her roots.

Euston recounted that, “I’m originally from Fresno, California, which is heavily agricultural, and as a result, has the highest concentrated population of poverty in California. It was normal for adults to work hourly wage jobs as their career path. I also worked these jobs growing up, so I know firsthand how hard it is to make ends meet if your hours are cut and you don’t get the scheduled hours you need. The pandemic has really compounded these challenges. So, I wasn’t going to build another startup unless it was a massive market and could really move the needle for real people.”  

There are now 73 million hourly workers in the U.S., representing 55.5% of all wage and salary workers. Talking to dozens of hourly wage workers herself, Euston realized that these workers want to work. However, many employers ineffectively schedule workers methodically without enough hours to make a living wage. Essentially, WorkWhile aims to solve this issue by creating a labor marketplace that connects workers with employers for hourly wage work with the flexibility to build schedules that meet their unique earning requirements. Workers can even get paid 24 hours after they clock out of a shift. On the flipside, it allows employers to have the on-demand staff they need. 

Before giving workers access to the full WorkWhile platform, they go through an extensive screening process. This includes a liability screening (a self reported questionnaire about attitude toward work, a virtual orientation and quiz, background check, among others) to help the platform determine who is really motivated. Additionally, they are asked logistical questions such as their transpiration options, if they have a driver’s license, etc. as well as to complete an experience screening. This all ensures workers are qualified, reliable, and matched with a job most appropriate for them. 

Given the platform’s backend data models are best at predicting if someone will show up to a shift versus how their unique skills can be utilized, WorkWhile’s current philosophy focuses on light industrial and courier services. This includes warehousing, general labor, production, packing, delivering, etc. 

When asked how the Great Resignation has impacted WorkWhile’s growth, Euston said, “All workers are really saying is, ‘I want a better and more flexible way to work my job(s).’ If employers are willing to pay the wages that the current market demands, it’s actually very easy to hire right now. Workers are just no longer willing to risk their lives for poor pay.”  If it were that simple, all employers would just raise their wages. How WorkWhile ensures the employers on their platform meet the bar for pay, benefits, and conditions is through a healthy dose of competition. All employers are essentially competing for talent on the WorkWhile platform and their job postings are all transparent. This means that the best job posting will win out the best talent.   

WorkWhile partners with Operations and HR leaders and HR leaders at enterprise companies in order to gain access to the largest pool of open roles. As one example, WorkWhile works with Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI), a growing overstock retailer who needed staff in their distribution centers to fuel demand. WorkWhile was able to connect them to enough reliable workers in the Dallas, TX and Atlanta, GA area to scale their teams at the rate needed. Right now, they operate in four states and seven cities, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Atlanta. 

While WorkWhile intentionally does not track their users’ demographics to avoid potential bias, anecdotally Euston mostly sees students, heads of families, and older folks join the platform looking for work. These three categories all correspond with groups that may want to pick up extra shifts or extra cash, but need the flexibility to work around their busy schedules. 

However, more than 90% of workers on the platform take advantage of WorkWhile’s next day pay option. Euston attributes this feature and access to higher paying shifts as a way to help “ folks break the cycle of homelessness and find and afford permanent housing. One worker in particular told us how she was working a full time job in Los Angeles, but still wasn’t making enough to afford an apartment. With the shifts available on WorkWhile, she was able to create a schedule and earn enough to stop living in her car.” 

In that spirit, Euston doubled down that “We want to retain workers for as long as they want to work with us. This is why we invest so heavily in perks and benefits for workers on our platform, to provide the most flexibility possible, and push for market-clearing pay.”