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“Can we find an easier way for young people to find job opportunities?” asks David Sweeting, Innovation Lead of Urban Strategy for Save the Children and Co-Founder of Kolorob Jobs. “We think we can.”
According to Kolorob Jobs, Bangladesh is a lower middle income country with a strong trajectory of economic growth. A high underemployment rate, however, of 40 percent signals that many Bangladeshis only work a few hours per week in low paid and often dangerous jobs.
Kolorob Jobs also notes that 25 percent of the country’s young people are NEET (not in education, employment, or training) and 95 percent of the young people who are working are employed in unregulated and hazardous activities in the informal economy.
That’s why Kolorob created Kolorob Jobs. Kolorob is the company that created the world’s first online directory of the businesses and services that exist in the slums of Bangladesh. The Kolorob Jobs platform applies the Kolorob process of aggregating disorganized data to help young workers secure stable blue-collar jobs in the formal economy. This helps secure rights for workers and a fairer wage.
Operating as a digital job marketplace for employers, employees, and training institutions, Kolorob Jobs collects and sorts through blue-collar job and training opportunities via lists provided by BD Jobs — the leading job application platform in Bangladesh. Kolorob Jobs then matches job candidates to these opportunities based on an online assessment.
“We want to accelerate this process, make it more transparent and more efficient, so that we can cast the net wider and include more young people.” —David Sweeting
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Where is Kolorob Jobs now? Kolorob Jobs is led by Save the Children and supported by partnerships with Western Sydney University and two job application platforms — BD Jobs and SEEK International.
And in September, Kolorob Jobs was selected as a Solver in the Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future Challenge to help them take the platform from pilot to product. It was also chosen to receive the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Prize of up to $1 million, which is awarded to eight selected Solver teams that will have an impact in developing countries across the Indo-Pacific.
Here’s David Sweeting as he pitches Kolorob Jobs at the Solve Challenge Finals in September 2017 before becoming a Solver:
Read the solution application for Kolorob Jobs. Interested in partnering with them as they scale for global impact? Solve wants to hear from you. Reach out at solve@mit.edu.
David Sweeting pitches Kolorob Jobs at the Solve Challenge Finals in the Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future Challenge, September 17, 2017. (Photo by Samuel Stuart / MIT Solve)
