Platform Story Job2Go Becomes HR Management Platform

Kurniawan Santoso and his team at Job2Go never expected that several months after his company was announced to the public in December 2019, they have to rack their brains and find a way to stay afloat.

At that time, Job2Go had to swallow the bitter pill because it turned out that the solution offered at that time —based job vacancy search on-demand— could not be continued because all companies immediately put their belts on at the start of the pandemic.

"At that time [pandemic] there were no on-demand jobs, so we started to move. First wake up job portal in general around three weeks, then added other solutions until they were sure that this HR management solution was what many companies needed," said Job2Go Co-founder and CEO Kurniawan Santoso when met DailySocial.id, Monday (6/3).

After studying, it turns out that there is a misperception of the meaning of work on-demand in Indonesia compared to abroad. This has an impact on the minimum level of demand and search for this type of job. You could say work on-demand such as these have only proven successful in the transportation industry, as provided Grab and Gojek.

"The correct definition for Indonesia is creative jobs For work on-demand. For example, there are people who usually work . for design, then when a company is looking for personnel, just choose which one is suitable."

Regarding his current business model, he is not willing to call it a pivot but a sharpening of the strategy to become a comprehensive HR management platform, starting from recruitment, hiring, onboarding, training, payroll, and industrial relations. Not only that, Job2Go is also starting to enter embedded finance through the Job2Go Workforce product, offer EWA (earned wage access) and microinsurance, in partnership with Kini.id, Beever, and Hanhwa Life Insurance.

According to Kurniawan, providing this comprehensive solution is an added value for the company compared to similar players. Clients only need to pay management fee for all services available at no additional cost, so they are more efficient in terms of expenses. The same thing also affects the Job2Go business itself which can maintain its revenue growth, especially in terms of margins and commissions (fee based) that Job2Go receives from financial products.

Embedded finance is a new innovation that has a positive impact on increasing financial literacy. EWA itself allows employees to access salaries early if in urgent situations, so there is no need to run to online loans with suffocating interest. This marriage between HR solutions and fintech is predicted to create new solutions that can benefit employees and employers.

Plans to start implementing blockchain technology have also been discussed. If this happens, the world of HR will certainly be greatly helped in the process hiring because previously you had to verify various data so there was no need to do it anymore, there are many more innovations that can occur through blockchain.

"We plan to create an investment feature because essentially we want to increase financial literacy for people in the area blue-gray collar this."

Job2Go plan

Two years into its current business, Job2Go claims to have recorded revenue (revenue) of $10 million (more than 153 billion Rupiah) per year. Kurniawan said that this positive achievement would be continued this year by maintaining the same growth target as last year, along with controlling expenditure. He targets Job2Go to reach the break-even point (BEP) so that it can immediately make a profit.

"Now Almost BEP, now we're looking at it cost which must be adjusted to achieve profitability. This is the target that we are pursuing, how to maintain steady growth sustainable because most startups tuh grows but doesn't sustain"We don't want it to be like that."

They have prepared a number of strategies to achieve this target, one of which is always monitoring the level of client satisfaction while continuing to pursue the addition of new clients. New product development will not be as massive as when it first started operating.

The number of clients that Job2Go has handled has reached 50 companies across industries. They are dominated by the technology, consumer and financial sectors. Some of the company names are Grab, Tokopedia, Abbott, and so on. This year the company will add other industries, such as manufacturing and public services.

Based on their data, the workforce most sought after by Job2Go clients has a lot to do with frontliners and back office. For frontliners, like salesman, telemarketer, and customers service for placement in the area. Temporary back office, general work such as accounting, finance, administration, are also much sought after.

"Because we are full service, so we are the ones who recruit the staff, attendance, and payrollThey pass through us, but in their daily lives they work for clients. We provide all the legalities, including if there is a termination of employment (PHK)."

For his long-term plans, Kurniawan explained that he wants Job2Go to expand to the ASEAN market and be listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI). For him, taking the floor on the stock exchange is proof that the HR management business model implemented by Job2Go has proven to be long-lasting and relevant to the needs of all industries.

"ASEAN countries have the same characteristics as each other, in terms of aspects region are also close together, so economically they will also be connected to each other. Our ambition is to be able to serve ASEAN, whether by entering alone, partnership with similar players from that country, or a merger. "IPO or expansion, we'll see which comes first in the next 3-4 years."

In its scope in Indonesia, Job2Go competes with MyRobin, Workmate, and Staffinc. If you look at the industry, these startups compete with companies outsourcing where the entire system is still conventional, not yet integrated between services, be it workforce management, payroll, and recruitment, you have to use/rent different platforms. "But we are developing outsourcing services This is in a unified system."

Job2Go, which is supported by 50 employees, has received external funding three times. First time angel round from BANSEA (The Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia) and investors from Japan in June 2020. Second, occurred in the same year for the pre-Series A round from investors from South Korea. The nominal funds obtained from these two rounds are unfortunately kept secret.

Third, funding is in form debt (debt) of $1,5 million from a number of investors and p2p lending startups, namely, Xencap, ChocoUp, and Modal Rakyat using the scheme invoice financing.