THE gig economy has grown in popularity in recent years, thanks to advances in technology and digital connectivity.
Banking on this opportunity, SOLVNEX was formed as a tech startup incubated in the Social Enterprise Education Lab (SEEd.Lab) innovation hub – a collaborative effort between PETRONAS and Tata Consultancy Services.
The social enterprise focuses on developing and connecting freelancers to businesses in Malaysia, offering both parties a seamless and faster gig talent hiring process for various tasks.
"We saw an opportunity in Malaysia's underserved gig economy market. We hope our platform can help connect these workers to the right jobs available as more and more gig workers enter the workforce, whether by choice or due to circumstances beyond their control," said Qadir Hairi, the chief executive officer of SOLVNEX.
"When this startup was in the ideation stage as part of the SEEd.Lab programme, our vision was to connect graduate talents or unemployed young professionals to gigs from corporations and SMEs.
"We were confident that our startup could do some good in this uncertain climate when Covid-19 hit while we were still refining our ideas, and when the youth unemployment numbers in Malaysia grew as a result," Qadir added.
UNTAPPED OPPORTUNITIES
There is a rise in self-employment as companies scale down due to the economic impact of the pandemic. However, awareness and acceptance of the gig economy in Malaysia is still in its early stages.
SOLVNEX discovered during their research that many corporate governance structures for large corporations do not include gig workers.
One of the main reasons for this is that Malaysian businesses have yet to figure out how to best incorporate the gig worker option into their hiring structures.
"This means they don't have a system in place for hiring freelancers, which is a huge opportunity for both corporations and gig workers in our target market," according to Qadir.
SOLVNEX is the first gig platform in the country that is focused on the Malaysian employment market and on bringing companies and SMEs into the gig economy.
A firm believer in the gig economy, the local tech startup hired a gig professional to develop the software, thereby creating SOLVNEX, a platform made by gig professionals, for gig professionals.
"Going forward, the vision of success I have in mind for this startup is if SOLVNEX can help facilitate not just the education on the gig economy in Malaysia, but also help execute and push it to the next level," Qadir said.
TRUSTED PLATFORM
SOLVNEX's team is also heavily invested in maintaining the quality of the tasks available on the platform, meticulously vetting gig workers who sign up with relevant background checks and pre-assessments to ensure that their level of expertise and skills matches what they say.
"We also check to see if the jobs posted by the companies are genuine. A designated individual in SOLVNEX screens, verifies, and approves every job that is listed. As a control for the quality of the work transactions, we also have a review and feedback system," Qadir explained.
While SOLVNEX's aim was initially focused on reducing youth unemployment, the company has since expanded to include professionals and talents from many walks of life, with both broad and specific abilities.
"Since Covid-19, there has been a lot of retrenchment, and we believe SOLVNEX can provide a new source of income for these outstanding individuals. A 70-year-old retiree from the oil and gas industry recently joined us.
"He has tremendous potential and expertise as an industry trainer, and we believe it would be a shame to lose these talents due to a lack of a platform or channel to find work," Qadir adds, emphasising that the gig economy offers opportunities in a variety of industries.
Qadir attributes the startup's growth to the team's time at SEEd.Lab.
"We were able to acquire the proper advice and support from established mentors and the programme. We even got to meet with several startup players through SEEd.Lab and work with them to learn as much as possible, giving us a head start when we graduate," Qadir added.
Find out more about SOLVNEX at the PETRONAS FLOW homepage.