Marcus Richards
We are a full-service, compliant, and completely digital temporary staffing solution. Our friendly mobile application allows for the seamless finding and matching of shifts by work-seekers, and staffing procurement for employers. Under our unique employment arrangements with workers, we can allow workers to provide labor at any business at any time, with no contracts, retainers, or commitment. Our employer platform allows businesses to achieve 100% fill rates on requested staff while saving money on administration. We believe in an open labor system, where job-seekers have control over their choice of work and financial security.
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Abhinav, and I am the founder and CEO of ZipShift. I am an entrepreneur with experience in software engineering, data science, and product management. I have spent years building products for various health technology and AI companies. My educational background is in the fields of economics and computer science.
In 2021, I noticed a scary trend within UK employment. Walking down many of the high streets in London, I noticed that almost every cafe, restaurant, retail storefront, or pub had flyers for vacancies. I spoke to a restaurant owner about their labor shortage dilemma, and quickly found out the detrimental impact it had on their business, and that the problem was not being solved by any solutions currently offered in the market. On the other hand, I spoke to friends about their struggles finding meaningful employment. One of my friends mentioned their terrible experience with a large temporary staffing agency – an experience that included late pay, unclear instructions, unfair treatment, and overall inefficiency caused by completely manual processes.
It dawned on me then that there must be a better way to address this problem.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
My advice is: if you have an idea, you must move fast to breathe value into it, otherwise, someone else will. An idea inherently has no value, the determinant of value is the speed and caliber upon which it is executed. Building momentum is crucial – make steps every day to reach your goal, no matter how small, just make them.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Workers, now more than ever, require flexibility in their choice of work. On the other hand, employers are being devastated by the crippling effects of labor shortages. ZipShift allows job-seekers to work when they want, where they want, and employers to deal with staffing according to demand. By allowing employers to dynamically address their labor demand, we can mitigate their loss in revenue caused by understaffing and allow them to save on administration costs. By creating an easy-to-use platform for job-seekers, we allow them to work on an as-needed basis, creating flexibility and more control over their work-life balance.
What is your magic sauce?
Our ease of use is our magic sauce. On our platform, job-seekers can sign up in as little as ten minutes, meaning they could download the app in the morning and start working by the afternoon. Employers can be on-boarded in as little as an hour. There are no platforms on the market that can compare with our speed. We also leave pricing to be determined by the market, which forces competition and creates better value for consumers, which is unique within the competitive landscape we operate in.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Within the next five years, we would like to expand to more geographic locations, adapt the platform to support far more industries, create tools for businesses to increase their operational efficiency, and create tools for job-seekers to manage their financial health. At the end of the day, we want this platform to empower our users to live their most financially secure lives.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Employment law, in the UK at least, is extremely complex. Our biggest challenge so far has been aligning the compliance aspects of operating an employment business with the software requirements to deliver a fully digital and compliant platform to market. Putting in the upfront time to automate our processes in a compliant manner is challenging, but we expect will save us time and cost down the line.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We are hoping to onboard job-seekers, restaurants, cafes, pubs, warehouses, fulfillment centers, and more prior to our January 2022 launch. Job-seekers, if you are interested in working on ZipShift, please join our waitlist at https://zipshift.co/waitlist. Once you join, we will keep you updated on all developments prior to launch and will send you a reminder to download the app when we have launched. Employers, if you are interested in using ZipShift for staffing, please join our waitlist at https://zipshift.co/waitlist, or email [email protected] to start the onboarding process. During onboarding, a member of our employer support team will work with you to understand your needs and collect the necessary information to get you started.
For more information, please visit https://zipshift.co, or email us at [email protected]. Together, we will change the future of work.
