WorkerExpress
Pablo Fuentes
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Pablo Fuentes' job is finding other people jobs.
After graduating from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in June, Fuentes and Joe Mellin—a Stanford design school alum—launched WorkerExpress.com, a website that provides vetted and insured workers to employers looking for temporary hires.
Here's how it works: Interested workers fill out an application and get it verified using regional notary offices. After being approved, applicants then build a profile on the site that includes experience, references, tools they own, and, if the workers choose, pictures of themselves and of work they have completed. Once the profile is submitted, a WorkerExpress rep verifies the information, and the profile is then added to a database that prospective employers can access to find help.
When a contractor requests workers with certain skills for a specific date, duration, and location, WorkerExpress finds the most qualified by using a matching algorithm. The WorkerExpress member is then sent a text message with the job information asking if he is interested and available, and the contractor gets a list of options for the job, including access to those members' full profiles.
Once employers choose potential workers, WorkerExpress takes care of scheduling, and the workers keep 100 percent of what they earn. The employers are responsible for paying workers' comp and employment tax expenses, along with a fee. According to Fuentes, WorkerExpress has been doubling its revenue every few months since the launch.
Fuentes began thinking about the idea for such a company during a summer internship in the summer of 2009. As an intern, Fuentes was in charge of creating a system that uses text messaging as a way to communicate with customers. "Seeing so many cell phones used for so many reasons made me realize there could be a market for connecting people and jobs through cell phone technology," Fuentes says.
Currently WorkerExpress has three employees, plus the two founders, and more than 1,000 profiles in the system. The team is placing workers in jobs in California but has plans to expand into other states next year. "I'm a first-generation immigrant, and I love the idea of coming to work every day and getting people jobs," Fuentes says. "Especially now, as we're only starting to emerge out of a recession, this work is important." --Sommer Saadi, posted Jan. 31, 2011
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Pablo Fuentes' job is finding other people jobs.
After graduating from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in June, Fuentes and Joe Mellin—a Stanford design school alum—launched WorkerExpress.com, a website that provides vetted and insured workers to employers looking for temporary hires.
Here's how it works: Interested workers fill out an application and get it verified using regional notary offices. After being approved, applicants then build a profile on the site that includes experience, references, tools they own, and, if the workers choose, pictures of themselves and of work they have completed. Once the profile is submitted, a WorkerExpress rep verifies the information, and the profile is then added to a database that prospective employers can access to find help.
When a contractor requests workers with certain skills for a specific date, duration, and location, WorkerExpress finds the most qualified by using a matching algorithm. The WorkerExpress member is then sent a text message with the job information asking if he is interested and available, and the contractor gets a list of options for the job, including access to those members' full profiles.
Once employers choose potential workers, WorkerExpress takes care of scheduling, and the workers keep 100 percent of what they earn. The employers are responsible for paying workers' comp and employment tax expenses, along with a fee. According to Fuentes, WorkerExpress has been doubling its revenue every few months since the launch.
Fuentes began thinking about the idea for such a company during a summer internship in the summer of 2009. As an intern, Fuentes was in charge of creating a system that uses text messaging as a way to communicate with customers. "Seeing so many cell phones used for so many reasons made me realize there could be a market for connecting people and jobs through cell phone technology," Fuentes says.
Currently WorkerExpress has three employees, plus the two founders, and more than 1,000 profiles in the system. The team is placing workers in jobs in California but has plans to expand into other states next year. "I'm a first-generation immigrant, and I love the idea of coming to work every day and getting people jobs," Fuentes says. "Especially now, as we're only starting to emerge out of a recession, this work is important." --Sommer Saadi, posted Jan. 31, 2011
