The coronavirus pandemic has hit the global economy hard. Many companies were forced to stop operations, apply for short-time work or even lay off employees. On the other hand, industries such as retail or logistics were desperately looking for workers to cope with the increased demand.
“JOWOMO” is a digital platform that aims to counter these problems by enabling a temporary exchange of personnel for companies. The platform was founded during the “#WirVsWirus hackathon” end of March and is now part of the “Solution Enabler” programme, which is supported by Vodafone Institute.
The efficiency of the market
Short-time work, mass layoffs and insolvencies. These terms have shaped the public debate since the beginning of the Corona crisis. But why put up with these worst-case scenarios when there is a market with supply and demand? This question was the starting point for an interdisciplinary team of almost 20 people participating in the “#WirVsVirus hackathon”.
After only 48 hours idea, concept and code were developed: Companies should be able to enter into partnerships for the temporary exchange of personnel on a digital platform. The aim was to distribute employees in a fast and unbureaucratically way. Companies that currently need fewer staff should be able to offer even entire teams on the platform. While companies that have acutely higher staff needs can contact these companies directly.
Protecting work together
Shortly after the hackathon, other projects joined the vision of “JOWOMO”: Protecting work together. Within a few weeks, the platform www.jowomo.de went live. Together with mentors, companies and experts, a matching algorithm was developed that determines suitable personnel partnerships based on various criteria.
After companies have registered on the platform, they define general, “crisis-proof” characteristics (e.g. “physical work” or “truck driving license”) for their teams or employees to promote exchange also across industries.
In addition, the matching algorithm not only searches for matching characteristics but also prioritizes regional partnerships and gives preference to a team placement over individuals. By bringing together companies in a precisely tailored manner, “JOWOMO” ensures not only efficient capacity distribution in line with the crisis but also protects jobs and companies.
Future of work is flexible
“We are convinced that personnel partnerships as a building block will help shape the labour market of the future in the long term. Employees must constantly acquire new skills and learn throughout their lives – especially when facing challenges like digitalization or artificial intelligence.
Working in another company – perhaps in another industry, another profession – provides new insights, inspires and promotes the acquisition of new skills. Personnel partnerships strengthen companies and employees alike and will, in our opinion, represent a decisive competitive advantage in the job market of the future,” states “JOWOMO”.
The project further declares, “the Corona crisis is a catastrophe. But out of every crisis comes an opportunity. We harvest use the current willingness to change, the great solidarity in society and the actionism of political actors to implement major reforms in the labour market. There are many unfilled jobs and at the same time many people looking for work. The answer to the question of an intelligent and efficient labour market in the future can be personnel partnership.”
Vodafone support
Experts from Vodafone Germany particularly support „JOWOMO“ in the fields of communication and branding, where they provide advice on storytelling, public image, strategic communication and a durable design of the platform, so that “JOWOMO” will continue to smarten up labour even beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are pleased to be working with Vodafone. You can feel the expertise of an international operating tech company. The exchange with the experts from Vodafone is a great help to let our young project grow quickly” explains Markus Kling, one of the founders of “JOWOMO”.
In addition to participating in the “Solution Enabler” programme, “JOWOMO” was selected as one of 10 projects to participate in the “Solution Builder” – an intensive support programme for selected projects of the “#WirVsVirus Solution Enablers”, which were certified as having the greatest potential and urgency.
About the “#WirVsVirus Solution Enabler” programme
The “#WirVsVirus Solution Enabler” is a six-months implementation programme for 130 selected innovative solutions developed for coronavirus-related challenges. The programme that is supported by the Vodafone Institute with startup funding, know-how and digital expertise, encourages projects from 12 action fields, such as health, everyday life and crisis management, to successfully implement their solutions on a broad scale. The Institute supports the project teams with individually tailored support by providing access to the Vodafone corporate network. Particularly the startup programme Vodafone UPLIFT with their PACESETTER offering supports the teams in the areas of IT infrastructure, public cloud, IoT solutions and individual consulting. The programme under the patronage of the Federal Chancellery has started working with the projects on April 8 of 2020. Find further information here.