In a world where you can get a ride from a complete stranger or spend the night in the home of someone you have never met, a business should be able to find extra hands on short notice. Unfortunately, the on-demand economy hasn’t quite made its presence felt in businesses that use shift workers, but one New Jersey company is trying to change that.
Hyr is a mobile platform that matches hourly workers with businesses that need them, even if it’s just for one or two shifts in a pinch. Hyr also is one of three up-and-coming companies that will be on display April 30 at NJBIA-Audible Tech Cities event in Newark.
In an interview with the news website AlleyWatch, founder Erika Mozes said Hyr connects hourly paid workers to businesses to fill shifts, when they need them.
“We’re changing the way businesses think about contingent labor by extending the on-demand economy concept to all kinds of work, not just transportation or food delivery,” Mozes said.
“The platform is a solution for both workers and businesses,” she said. “Workers earn extra income when they have time in their schedules, and businesses can now access workers, when they need them.”
Don’t confuse Hyr with a staffing agency, however. Mozes describes the company as shift insurance. It’s there for an unexpected spike in business, vacation coverage, or someone calling out. She added that businesses can also use Hyr to tryout workers before hiring them more permanently.
Hyr is also part of the changing business dynamic of Newark, a city undergoing a renaissance thanks to innovative high-tech companies that are making it their home. The movement is led by Audible, an Amazon company that moved its headquarters to Brick City in 2007 and is now trying to be part of what founder and CEO Donald Katz calls “…positively disruptive forces.”
For Mozes, it’s exciting being part of Newark Venture Partners and working out of the Audible offices, but it’s also about opportunity and jobs for people in the city. In fact, Hyr is about to launch a project that will make Newark the third market in which the company operates, joining Toronto and Manhattan.
“We started seeing that Newark workers were getting work in Manhattan, and thought Newark businesses are having the same issues accessing people as businesses in Manhattan,” said Mozes. “It makes so much sense for us to launch a pilot here – we can get workers in New Jersey shifts closer to home, and help New Jersey businesses access people when they need them most.”
