BlueCrew (YC S15) Provides Workers for the On-Demand World(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
BlueCrew (YC S15) Provides Workers for the On-Demand World
http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/08/bluecrew/
4 comments
This is great! Zen99 and Painless1099 are both working on providing less complexity for workers that stay 1099 and the value is obvious, this goes above and beyond in a way that seems appealing to both sides. Super interesting developments happening for contractors.
Hello guys, this is Michele, one of the co-founders of BlueCrew :) Feel free to ask any question!
This sounds a lot like Wonolo. And also similar to the traditional temp agencies like Manpower.
How is BlueCrew different than these incumbents?
How is BlueCrew different than these incumbents?
WoNoLo is a great company, but it's a 1099 model.
It is difficult to justify how a low complexity worker can be a contractor. To be a contractor you need to have done a personal investment, cannot be trained and cannot be working on a shift.
This exposes both the customer and the employee to a high level of risks. The employee does not have the needed insurance coverage. The customer is at risk of worker's misclassification, fines and costly claims.
Compared to a traditional staffing agency, we have lower costs of operations.
We showed our product to a quite a few people that worked ad ManPower and told us that we are faster, provide a better interface/experience. I hope they are right :)
The focus of this article is baffling. Lots of temporary staffing agencies, perhaps the majority in certain states, classify their workers as employees.
We all agree that staffing agencies classify workers as employees. And that's the right thing to do.
The focus is on the on-demand economy. Very few on-demand platform decided to go for the w2 route instead of the 1099 model.
I might be wrong, but I can think of 3 in total
No offense, but the use of "on-demand economy" appears to be little more than marketing spin. Lots of established temp agencies can accommodate companies with short-term needs and deliver warm bodies quickly.
As a co-founder of BlueCrew, I think the one of the biggest flaws of traditional staffing agencies is considering a person a "Warm Body". I believe everyone fits in a job somewhere, Our goal is to help connect these perfect employer-employee relationships.
No offense at all. I am obviously biased. If this was true though, our customers would have not left traditional agencies for us.
They all told us they did it for the same reasons: faster and easier to use.
The way we manage our workforce is also fundamentally different and better for the workers ;)
Do you have published metrics showing that your model is better for the workers?
If you specify what kind of metrics you are looking for, happy to provide them. Ping me at [email protected]
In general, 1099 are not covered by worker's comp and end up paying 7% more taxes.
At a traditional staffing agency, a worker is asked to show-up in the office on Monday and declare her/his availability for the week. He is then called an pushed to a shift. Often they are never called.
Opposite to them, we leave complete freedom to workers and allow them to set their own schedule