Kenyan e-recruitment startup Jobsikaz is helping SMEs talent-source more effectively via its online platform, which it claims reduces the workload, time and money spent on recruitment by up to 70 per cent by providing tech-powered order and interaction mechanisms.
Launched last year, Jobsikaz provides a ready database of qualified CVs across various categories, shortlisting tools that enable users to select the best candidates at a click, and assessment tools for employers to administer on candidates.
Founder and chief executive officer Sophy Mwale told Disrupt Africa that in a job market with millions of job seekers and employers alike, most SMEs are ill equipped with recruitment knowledge and resources, and therefore unable to scour the market for qualified talent.
Jobsikaz has developed a shared e-recruitment platform for use by employers with limited recruitment skills and time, which can be accessed at the smallest of costs.
“We have achieved this by organising job seekers in a virtual space and providing employers fine search and selection tools to sift through and assess the jobseekers as per their requirements. We are gearing to be the Amazon of e-recruitment on the continent,” she said.
The idea to form the company was informed by Mwale’s experiences as a jobseeker, a recruiter and also as a retention manager for a job website.
“At the job site, I realised as intermediaries we were unable to fulfill the demands of both the employers and jobseekers, and a closer look revealed to me the missing part of the job market puzzle,” she said.
“Roughly 90 per cent of businesses in Africa are small and growing businesses. They lack recruitment skills, time and budgets. They have quite a challenge getting the right candidate, and their recruitment processes tend to be inefficient and dragged out. The cumulative effects of this are of grave consequence, leading to slow growth of businesses and the private sector generally, while increasing the already bloated unemployment levels.”
Despite the glaring need, Mwale said, no recruitment solutions provider has considered the SME demographic as a potential target market, with market players continuing to offer solutions that are unaffordable for small businesses.
“Yes there are many e-recruitment solutions, but there is only one “market” – us. The rest are malls targeting middle to high level employers and jobseekers,” she said.
Uptake has been better than even Mwale expected, however, with total recruitments of over 300 over the last year, earning Jobsikaz a market share of 0.23 per cent. The startup makes money from employer and jobseeker subscription and premium services.
“This year alone we have experienced 1,236 per cent growth in signups. With the positive economic outlook, and growth strategies put in place, we expect to increase our market share by 100 per cent over the next three years to 23 per cent,” she said.
Jobsikaz has been bootstrapped since launch, and is already profitable, but Mwale said it is in the process of raising funding to fuel its growth plans. It already operates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, but is looking further afield.
“Over the next 12 months we are looking to launch into six more African countries at the horn of Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa,” she said.
