WorkWhile is an hourly labor marketplace for flexible work that matches workers to shifts that fit their skills, schedule, and location. It uses behavioral analysis, feedback loops, and powerful machine learning models to help identify the most reliable hourly workers and supports them with perks not available at traditional hourly wage jobs.
As a startup executive and entrepreneur, Jarah Euston saw a need to support the needs of 80 million flex workers in the US by matching them with employers who want to scale their workforce while matching the demands of the business. Jarah teamed up with Amol Jain to launch WorkWhile to create a better system for both employees and employers.
"Jarah and Amol had the foresight to understand that the current model for this incredibly valuable workforce simply isn't sustainable for either the workers or the companies who depend on them," said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. "By identifying the best workers and treating them right, WorkWhile has created a new approach to work that is mutually beneficial to workers and business and meets the needs of our rapidly evolving economy."
As the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic, job vacancies increased to record highs of over 7% in late 2021 and early 2022. As of December of 2023, the job openings rate remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. Accordingly, the need for high quality workers is more important than ever as these sought after employees have more choice in a landscape where there are more job openings than available employees.
By giving workers more stability, easier access to their earnings, and above market wages, WorkWhile is able to offer corporate clients a high quality, reliable workforce to fill high-demand roles like light industrial and last-mile courier delivery right when they're most needed. Average no-show rate for WorkWhile workers is only 5%, and WorkWhile's predictive machine learning models can predict with 76% accuracy whether or not a worker will turn up for a shift. To date, WorkWhile has filled shifts at companies like Advance Auto Parts, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, Good Eggs, Thistle, Edible Arrangements, Dandelion Chocolate and Bassett Furniture, among others.
"Hourly workers are an incredibly important part of our economy, as evidenced by our current worker shortages and the 10 million open jobs in the US," said Euston. "These workers play a key role in helping address the supply chain crisis, worker shortage and other challenges we find ourselves facing as an economy today. By not only treating workers well, but also investing in technology like WorkWhile's labor API, we're proactively addressing our client's challenges and making daily operations smoother and more automated."
WorkWhile connects workers with shifts in light industrial, warehouse, hospitality, and event services. WorkWhile provides the most reliable workforce for businesses seeking hourly workers. Through their platform, companies are able to vet and assess candidates, set hourly wages, and hire on an on-demand or temp-to-hire basis. By leveraging WorkWhile’s technology platform companies can scale hiring essential staff quickly.
WorkWhile’s engineering team has implemented state-of-the-art logistics technology within their tech stack. WorkWhile uses behavioral analysis, feedback loops, and powerful AI and machine learning to identify the most reliable hourly workers and supports them with perks not available at traditional hourly wage jobs.
They are able to build their proprietary methods and procedures to evaluate employee behavior and ensure the placement and retention of the most reliable hourly staff. The operations teams are able to quickly visualize issues within the workforce, categorize them and resolve them as necessary. Core logistics data like expected employee arrival time, time spent at work sites and departure times can easily be accessed via custom-built dashboards. Additionally, employees are able to accurately document their work and get paid quickly.
WorkWhile believes flex work is good for people, business and society. “According to our latest research, flex work is the primary source of income for the majority of workers. This growing prevalence of flexible work as the primary source of income for countless hourly workers underscores the importance of our technology…”, states, Jarah Euston, WorkWhile Co-founder and CEO. By giving workers the tools to augment their income and design career paths that match their goals and strengths, WorkWhile empowers workers to have control over how they work, where they work and when they work.
Through these worker-centric innovations, WorkWhile is able to improve the reliability of staff at scale. The issues of quality, reliability, and lack of technology to find available workers are mitigated by a platform that is focused on worker flexibility and matching hiring needs to the nuanced behaviors of a high quality workforce.
WorkWhile addresses recent labor market challenges with a technology platform that prioritizes the workers’ experience – with quick payments, safety features, and built-in transparency. This modern approach leverages trends that have become a shift in how we work, find opportunities and interact with employers. For businesses to keep up with these changes, they must adjust and stretch their systems and processes to match the future of work.
WorkWhile, the San Francisco-based labor technology platform that matches workers to shifts that fit their skills, schedule and location, was selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum's "Technology Pioneers."
Today, WorkWhile announced it has raised a $13M Series A, led by Reach Capital with participation from existing investors Khosla Ventures, F7 Ventures and new investors Chamaeleon, Position Ventures, and Gaingels, among others.