Local job app gets more than 1K users — just weeks after launch

The creator of a new job app is surprised by the number of people using the program just more than a month after it launched.

Rakesh Naidu said he planned for about 300 users within the first few months of launching Aye Work, a mobile app which allows job seekers to find both long-term and short-term gigs.

But after 42 days, he said the app garnered 1,300 users — most of whom are in the Windsor-Essex area. 

Naidu, who is also the executive director of Windsor's Chamber of Commerce, said it's too early to say how many jobs were granted but the numbers alone show there is "definitely a need."

The app is his personal project. One that grew out of the job matching he was doing on spreadsheets for international students. He said students reach out to him through social media, emails and texts.

"They tend to think that because I'm in this position, I would know a lot of employers and could get work for them," he explained. 

He began taking their information to connect them with local businesses. Most student visas restrict students to 20 hours of off-campus work weekly — so Naidu began mapping students availability with the demands of local businesses on his own.

But it quickly grew to be too laborious. That's when he developed Aye Work, paid for out of his own pocket.

"I heard a lot of horror stories about desperate students trying to do all kind of things to just get by and make ends meet. I couldn't really sit back and do nothing about it," he said.

The volume of users searching for a job is no surprise, considering the Windsor-Essex region has the country's highest unemployment rate as of January 2020. About 85 per cent of Aye Work users are students, Naidu said. 

That also comes as no surprise to University of Windsor business professor Francine Schlosser. She is a part of the Building Migrant Resilience in Cities team and said whenever unemployment numbers spike, international students take a hit.

"This is a vulnerable population. Many of them are under a lot of pressure ... because their families have entered into debt to get them here," she said. "Some of the jobs they take put food on the table, but they don't get them the experience they need."

Schlosser said it's important to monitor engagement to ensure students are not being taken advantage of and "paid under the table." The app has a rating tool that allows employees to monitor employers and vice-versa — something Naidu said should help combat unacceptable behaviour. 

'The workforce of the future'

The struggle of finding a good job is something Rupinder Chohan is all too familiar with. Last year, the only option he had was to accept a 3 a.m. shift at a local warehouse. 

"I would get an hour to an hour and a half of sleep — and then would have to go to work," the international business student said. 

The app is already receiving attention from other regions in the country, according to Naidu. Universities and colleges in British Columbia and the GTA have reached out explore the idea of bringing the app to their campuses. 

"This is the workforce of the future. We want their talent," Naidu said. "But we need to provide the support and help they need today."