Why is konex doing what it's doing?
Written by konex on 23 February 2021
As more millennials hit the job market, new trends pop up that businesses need to be aware of. For example, studies have found that millennials do not tend to watch television, they do not trust banks, and a lot of them do not even go out to bars and nightclubs.
When it comes to work, millennials are portrayed as having the mindset that they are happier to be given a task or project for a certain period of time as opposed to employment for life. They also want flexibility, especially when it comes to their work hours as well as the location they work. Essentially, they become micro-entrepreneurs by building their own businesses from multiple revenue streams, which is part of the Gig Economy.
The expectation corporations and small, medium enterprises (SMEs) have of the working population in terms of habits and culture is very different to what the millennials are asking for. So, is it possible to brush their preferences to one side and keep the forty-hour work week; the security of being in full-time employment at a single employer and all the other good things that come with it? Do they really need to accommodate millennials? Well, millennials make up over one third of the working population in the United States of America (USA) – more than Gen Xers, so if traditional businesses do not change fast enough to match their needs, they will lose relevance in the marketplace.
It is not just individual working preferences that are in desperate need of review. The staffing and recruitment industry are holding on to traditions that also need to catch up with present day trends. Before the global pandemic, hiring managers would almost always insist on face to face meetings, and your role to be performed in an office amongst other traditions.
This is not just about hiring managers. The recruitment agencies are also in need of change. With the global staffing industry revenue in 2020 valued at over USD $500 billion, you would expect an industry with cutting edge innovation and technology. Yet, this is not the case.
Take for example the recruitment agency process: the most valuable asset to an agency is their database. This is essentially a list of resumes for people who are looking for work. The agencies make money from these databases daily, and if their database does not have anyone suitable for the role they are trying to source, then they try to make money off your personal network instead by asking for introductions. There should be nothing wrong with this process; except, when you introduce your job seeking friend to the recruitment agency, you never hear any feedback. It’s like everything goes into a big black hole. Even if your friend were fortunate enough to get hired, you often do not even receive a thank you, which one would consider a common courtesy.
Depending on the country, some of the fees recruitment agencies charge for their services can be up to 40% of the job seeker’s first-year annual salary. If the job pays USD $100,000, then 40% of that value is not an insignificant number. It then seems somewhat unfair that you do not receive anything for the part you played in helping someone get a new job, and it does not encourage you to make more introductions to that recruitment agency. Seeing as the agency is being paid for their service, what better way for your contribution to be recognized than a monetary acknowledgement?
The konex team has first-hand experience of the “no reward for your introduction” situation and is familiar with the frustration that this can cause. Maybe there are exceptions to the rule with certain agencies, but we have yet to come across these. This is why we are looking to adapt the model – konex seeks to reward users who connect the job seeker with the hiring company via our platform. This is because they are the ones who are increasing the liquidity pool of job seeking candidates and are making a positive contribution to someone’s career. Additionally, the job seeker also gets a reward for changing jobs along with their new role. This way everyone is incentivised during the recruitment process.
Users on the konex platform might not have a very large network of job seeking friends, so they may only be able to make introductions once or twice a year. This is still great as side income to supplement their primary income, top up a savings account, go out to a nice dinner with friends and family, or be used to go on vacation. It also makes a big difference to the newly employed person that got their job as a result of their friend’s introduction.
If a user is well connected within a community and wants to become a budding entrepreneur by making konex one of their main income sources, this can be a possibility as well. Working in this manner provides the user with the flexibility to work the hours they want, and in a location they choose. As mentioned earlier, this is the preferred working style of millennials, but could be a nice fit for anyone whose aspirations match better with this style. konex essentially makes the Gig economy a financially viable choice.
The main problems within the industry that konex is trying to solve is transparency and distribution of earnings. At the end of the day, if we can solve them, the hiring companies stand to benefit from an increased pool of job seekers that they can get access to, and konex users can also receive a financial reward making introductions!