Crowdsourcing Work for UK's Unemployed

The use of crowdsourcing to hire a skilled work force to perform certain tasks is not entirely new. Platforms such as Microtask and Clickworker have successfully tapped into the potential skill set of the crowd. Using crowdsourcing principles and mobile app technology, UK based Sooqini has created a an effective and unique means for unemployed people to find work and for small & medium businesses access to a cost effective and skilled source of labour.

Based in London, Sooqini was launched in 2011 by Tiago Mateus (COO), Raj Singh (CEO) Nick Williams (Head of Product Development) and Scott Collen (Marketing Director). The goal was to create an online market place for people and organisations to effectively seek out people willing to carry out small tasks on their behalf for a fee, inspired by an instance in which one of the founders was in urgent need of a tennis partner. Out of this was idea was born an enterprising way to get the UK's unemployed into the job market, earning money putting their much sought after skills to use.

Whether you need someone to run errands, help with research, administration tasks, or even help organise catering for an event, a business or individual simply post the role or job on Sooqini. Registered users looking for work can respond if they have the right skills and/or experience stating the price and terms under which they would be willing to undertake the role. The customer could potentially have a large number of responses to choose from making it easier to find a suitably qualified individual for the right price. Sooqini can be used to hire individuals to carry out just about any task. These include help build Ikea furniture, attend a class and take notes on your behalf, personal shopper, or even cleaning jobs. 

With over two and a half million people unemployed and a further nine million economically inactive Sooqini is the perfect solution to get them contributing to their local community -  Tiago Mateus - COO Sooqini

Whereas many crowdsourcing platforms used to source labour can do so from anywhere in the world, Sooqini ecnourages the buying and selling of skills and time in this manner to help keep money earned within the local economy. At present Sooqini is focused on serving the needs of the time-strapped resident of London, however there is scope for expanding beyond the UK's capital.

The potential of Sooqini goes beyond merely outsourcing menial business and personal tasks a bevy of budding workers waiting to jump into action. Sooqini can inspire the budding entrepreneur to build a solid profile as a service provider thus opening up the door to a wealth of potential clients. This appeal to the next generation of budding Alan Sugars is how Sooqini came to the attention of The Princes Trust, the organisation that invests and embodies belief in the entrepreneurial spirit of the country's youth, and to which Sooqini contributes 10% of every transaction. With this support along with that of the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) Sooqini offers a much needed lifeline to the UK's skilled unemployed and the budding entrepreneur.