4 ms·

I'm sure it must be out there already in some form, but you might want to give a shot at "uber for day laborers". It seems to me like there are opportunities on

by gajomi 9y ago

I'm sure it must be out there already in some form, but you might want to give a shot at "uber for day laborers". It seems to me like there are opportunities on both the supply and demand side. On the supply side there its lots of room for improving gig hunting and payment assurance for laborers. Staffing agencies are of course in this space, but are pretty inefficient and catch only a small fraction of potential gigs relative to something like craigslist (which of course, has the downside of potentially unreliable payments). On the demand side, there are definitely niches for short term gigs where a company needs to scale up or down quickly (last minute work, no shows, etc). These quick changes can be hard for staffing agencies to fulfill, largely due to inefficiency in recruitment, even when the laborers are already in the talent pool. If you don't have any experience with this area, its really easy to do so: try to find some ditch digging on craigslist and see how many gigs you can do before you get stiffed or otherwise mistreated (won't take long). Also, use that pile of cash you have in the bank to try to find contractors to paint a house, clean some toilets, etc. and you'll start to get a sense for problems in the labor pool.

Entangled 9y ago
I support this idea. I developed myself an app for handymen to post their ads but never published it. I know there is a huuuuge market for that and the few options available are good enough.
Animats 9y ago
There are lots of people who need jobs and need someone to tell them where to go and what to do. This could be a real winner. Call it "Slaves 2.0".
- gajomi 9y ago
  Your comment made me lol. But also made me think :) Indeed its not hard to imagine how "uber for day laborers" could increase worker exploitation. In particular the possibility of somehow skirting around worker's comp insurance by arguing that it only facilitates transactions is an obvious starting point. However, I think such a technology could also be used to mitigate exploitation. The one thing that I already mentioned was payment assurance. In general socializing the risk exposed to laborers as part of the service could be a great benefit in growing the service.
  - hawski 9y ago
    It could mitigate, but VC money will not ROI itself.
    - heroprotagonist 9y ago
      20% off the top for basically running a directory service would, though.
- ImSkeptical 9y ago
  The irony here is that this also characterizes the OP. They have a team and finding, but need a task. My own thought would be "get a job" but it seems unhelpful.
- staunch 9y ago
  Unchecked capitalism beat ya to it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery
- Theodores 9y ago
  The slavery we know from history, i.e. the triangular trade between the Caribbean, Liverpool and Guinea, that was actually 'Slaves 2.0'. Before 'Slaves 2.0' there was 'Slaves 1.0'. This existed in Africa and before white men and guns were involved it wasn't a bad system at all. If you did something seriously wrong then you were not sent to prison, instead you were sold into slavery. The idea was that you worked off your debt - however much you were sold for - and then when the debt was done you could go back home. The triangular trade changed that. People were being shipped off forever, the deal of 'slavery' had changed from a reasonable system for maintaining the rule of law to true heart of darkness stuff. In 'Slavery 1.0' people didn't have the right to do whatever they wanted with their slaves, they could not rape and kill them, as white man did. I would actually prefer 'Slavery 1.0' to the legal system and prison, none of which is really being judged by your neighbours. If I could sell my lazy friend that owes me money into slavery, e.g. to the coffee shop down the road, with the coffee shop owner taking my friend on as a slave and giving me the money owed then that could work for me. I doubt the coffee shop owner would really want to rape/kill/beat up my friend, but he might want him working really hard from really early in the morning until quite late in the evening. Or, without the benefit of 'Slavery 1.0' I could take my friend to court and then when he doesn't pay he could end up in prison. I would still not get my money back. The coffee shop would not have a slave, they would have to hire a wage slave instead. So let's think more positively about 'Slavery'. What could 'Slavery 3.0' be like and is there an app for that? What if I could put my friend up on the 'slavery app' with my price? I just want £3K-5K back. How can the small print in the EULA that my friend/slave-to-be signs up to have legal consequence? If my friend cannot be bothered pouring beverages all day and does a runner, then some lucky Pokemon player that finds him should be rewarded somehow, with my friend sold on to a 'riskier' slave market, perhaps picking coffee beans in Kenya where he is unable to find his way home. Much like 'Slavery 1.0' the slave is not humiliated or deprived of the basics, all needs are met but no luxuries or pay are given. Instead the person that sold the 'slave' gets that. So go for the app, but call it 'Slavery 3' and make it a lot more fun than the misery of this VC funded Uber/AirBnB sharing economy nonsense. Poke fun at capitalism, the world of work, the legal system and our idea of history whilst doing it and every small child will be wanting to sell their sister's pet hamster into slavery for some perceived valid reason. Maybe make the app step in for the 'tribal elders/jury' so part of 'Slavery 3' could be to do with voting whether someone should be allowed to be 'sold' or not.
- pariya 9y ago
  Speaking from the experience of someone who has hired general heavy labor and skilled trades... This has literally existed since the gold rush, chances are 60-80% of the labor involved in building your house came from an organization like this. They are a unique niche of staffing agencies that only staff same day labor. Many of organizations are nation-wide. Also, lots of skilled workers ask to be paid in cash, so they wouldn’t want a paper trail anyway... you pay 50% upfront and 50% when the job is done to spec. Just doing a few jobs on Craigslist and hiring some laborors won’t make you in any way even close to expert enough to tackle this field.
  - pariya 9y ago
    Correction you can also hire them for weeks at a time. Onus for workers comp, etc is on the agency.
TheTaytay 9y ago
I concur. I needed a ditch dug a couple of weeks ago, and everyone was recommending that I drive to Home Depot and pick some guys up waiting for work. There has _got_ to be a better way. Note that this felt different to me than hiring a handyman or any other skilled trade, which feels like a semi-solved problem. Sometimes I just need some extra hands, and learning the unspoken rules around how to hire guys on a street-corner is not something I'm interested in.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  Your problem isn’t hiring people, it’s hiring illegals willing to work for cheap in the Home Depot parking lot. Finding legal casual labor is tough because good workers with strong backs move up quickly, and you’re left with illegals and drunks.
  - BatFastard 9y ago
    Don't forget transportation
  - bluewater 9y ago
    Not sure what the current going rate is but doesn't a service like People Ready solve this? A while back I hired a couple guys through them to help with a move and they were a couple bucks an hour over minimum wage.
- Gargoyle 9y ago
  I moved last year and ended up using some street corner guys. Cost me the same as pros, more or less, but just easier for me personally. They're largely undocumented workers and a strictly cash business, though, so app-izing them would be difficult if not impossible. However- I did also learn that it's easy to hire professional movers to just help you load a u-haul for a couple if that's what you want. Working with those companies and app-izing that labor is something that should be possible.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    However- I did also learn that it's easy to hire professional movers to just help you load a u-haul for a couple if that's what you want. Working with those companies and app-izing that labor is something that should be possible. It is: https://www.uship.com/ https://www.uship.com/ (There's even a reality show around it, that's how I know about it)
walshemj 9y ago
Isn't that sort of work paid cash in hand and part of the black economy I am sure the IRS would be interested in your data :-)
molmalo 9y ago
In Argentina there is an app that does exactly that: https://www.iguanafix.com.ar https://www.iguanafix.com.ar
nradov 9y ago
In the Bay Area the Day Worker Center of Mountain View does that to an extent. For people who aren't comfortable hiring day laborers out of the Home Depot parking lot it give some measure of quality and safety. http://www.dayworkercentermv.org/ http://www.dayworkercentermv.org/
jpindar 9y ago
This is what Labor Ready does, and they're a godsend to people who need a days work on short notice.

by gajomi 9y ago

Entangled 9y ago

I support this idea. I developed myself an app for handymen to post their ads but never published it. I know there is a huuuuge market for that and the few options available are good enough.

Animats 9y ago

There are lots of people who need jobs and need someone to tell them where to go and what to do. This could be a real winner. Call it "Slaves 2.0".

gajomi 9y ago
Your comment made me lol. But also made me think :) Indeed its not hard to imagine how "uber for day laborers" could increase worker exploitation. In particular the possibility of somehow skirting around worker's comp insurance by arguing that it only facilitates transactions is an obvious starting point. However, I think such a technology could also be used to mitigate exploitation. The one thing that I already mentioned was payment assurance. In general socializing the risk exposed to laborers as part of the service could be a great benefit in growing the service.
- hawski 9y ago
  It could mitigate, but VC money will not ROI itself.
  - heroprotagonist 9y ago
    20% off the top for basically running a directory service would, though.
ImSkeptical 9y ago
The irony here is that this also characterizes the OP. They have a team and finding, but need a task. My own thought would be "get a job" but it seems unhelpful.
staunch 9y ago
Unchecked capitalism beat ya to it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery
Theodores 9y ago
The slavery we know from history, i.e. the triangular trade between the Caribbean, Liverpool and Guinea, that was actually 'Slaves 2.0'. Before 'Slaves 2.0' there was 'Slaves 1.0'. This existed in Africa and before white men and guns were involved it wasn't a bad system at all. If you did something seriously wrong then you were not sent to prison, instead you were sold into slavery. The idea was that you worked off your debt - however much you were sold for - and then when the debt was done you could go back home. The triangular trade changed that. People were being shipped off forever, the deal of 'slavery' had changed from a reasonable system for maintaining the rule of law to true heart of darkness stuff. In 'Slavery 1.0' people didn't have the right to do whatever they wanted with their slaves, they could not rape and kill them, as white man did. I would actually prefer 'Slavery 1.0' to the legal system and prison, none of which is really being judged by your neighbours. If I could sell my lazy friend that owes me money into slavery, e.g. to the coffee shop down the road, with the coffee shop owner taking my friend on as a slave and giving me the money owed then that could work for me. I doubt the coffee shop owner would really want to rape/kill/beat up my friend, but he might want him working really hard from really early in the morning until quite late in the evening. Or, without the benefit of 'Slavery 1.0' I could take my friend to court and then when he doesn't pay he could end up in prison. I would still not get my money back. The coffee shop would not have a slave, they would have to hire a wage slave instead. So let's think more positively about 'Slavery'. What could 'Slavery 3.0' be like and is there an app for that? What if I could put my friend up on the 'slavery app' with my price? I just want £3K-5K back. How can the small print in the EULA that my friend/slave-to-be signs up to have legal consequence? If my friend cannot be bothered pouring beverages all day and does a runner, then some lucky Pokemon player that finds him should be rewarded somehow, with my friend sold on to a 'riskier' slave market, perhaps picking coffee beans in Kenya where he is unable to find his way home. Much like 'Slavery 1.0' the slave is not humiliated or deprived of the basics, all needs are met but no luxuries or pay are given. Instead the person that sold the 'slave' gets that. So go for the app, but call it 'Slavery 3' and make it a lot more fun than the misery of this VC funded Uber/AirBnB sharing economy nonsense. Poke fun at capitalism, the world of work, the legal system and our idea of history whilst doing it and every small child will be wanting to sell their sister's pet hamster into slavery for some perceived valid reason. Maybe make the app step in for the 'tribal elders/jury' so part of 'Slavery 3' could be to do with voting whether someone should be allowed to be 'sold' or not.
pariya 9y ago
Speaking from the experience of someone who has hired general heavy labor and skilled trades... This has literally existed since the gold rush, chances are 60-80% of the labor involved in building your house came from an organization like this. They are a unique niche of staffing agencies that only staff same day labor. Many of organizations are nation-wide. Also, lots of skilled workers ask to be paid in cash, so they wouldn’t want a paper trail anyway... you pay 50% upfront and 50% when the job is done to spec. Just doing a few jobs on Craigslist and hiring some laborors won’t make you in any way even close to expert enough to tackle this field.
- pariya 9y ago
  Correction you can also hire them for weeks at a time. Onus for workers comp, etc is on the agency.

TheTaytay 9y ago

I concur. I needed a ditch dug a couple of weeks ago, and everyone was recommending that I drive to Home Depot and pick some guys up waiting for work. There has _got_ to be a better way. Note that this felt different to me than hiring a handyman or any other skilled trade, which feels like a semi-solved problem. Sometimes I just need some extra hands, and learning the unspoken rules around how to hire guys on a street-corner is not something I'm interested in.

Spooky23 9y ago
Your problem isn’t hiring people, it’s hiring illegals willing to work for cheap in the Home Depot parking lot. Finding legal casual labor is tough because good workers with strong backs move up quickly, and you’re left with illegals and drunks.
- BatFastard 9y ago
  Don't forget transportation
- bluewater 9y ago
  Not sure what the current going rate is but doesn't a service like People Ready solve this? A while back I hired a couple guys through them to help with a move and they were a couple bucks an hour over minimum wage.
Gargoyle 9y ago
I moved last year and ended up using some street corner guys. Cost me the same as pros, more or less, but just easier for me personally. They're largely undocumented workers and a strictly cash business, though, so app-izing them would be difficult if not impossible. However- I did also learn that it's easy to hire professional movers to just help you load a u-haul for a couple if that's what you want. Working with those companies and app-izing that labor is something that should be possible.
- icebraining 9y ago
  However- I did also learn that it's easy to hire professional movers to just help you load a u-haul for a couple if that's what you want. Working with those companies and app-izing that labor is something that should be possible. It is: https://www.uship.com/ https://www.uship.com/ (There's even a reality show around it, that's how I know about it)

walshemj 9y ago

Isn't that sort of work paid cash in hand and part of the black economy I am sure the IRS would be interested in your data :-)

molmalo 9y ago

In Argentina there is an app that does exactly that: https://www.iguanafix.com.ar https://www.iguanafix.com.ar

nradov 9y ago

In the Bay Area the Day Worker Center of Mountain View does that to an extent. For people who aren't comfortable hiring day laborers out of the Home Depot parking lot it give some measure of quality and safety. http://www.dayworkercentermv.org/ http://www.dayworkercentermv.org/

jpindar 9y ago

This is what Labor Ready does, and they're a godsend to people who need a days work on short notice.