Skip to main content
Recruitment

Local Recruitment For Local People

By May 28, 20155 Comments

I’ve blogged a few times before about the deterioration of the traditional recruitment models and the need for today’s recruiters to evolve and develop their offerings to meet the changing demands of clients in the future.  So it was with great interest I read about Auckland recruitment firm Razzbri launching a new freelancing platform Yudoozy to connect contractors with employers and cutting out the middleman (ie agency recruiters).

Seeing as Razzbri recruit for the Web, Digital and Design sectors, the concept of freelancing is already far more prevalent in their part of the business world than, say, in Sales or Engineering.  So in that regard they have something of a head start and, as co-founder Greig Cranfield told me this morning, is something that both their clients and contractors have been asking them to develop for a long time.

He also acknowledges the elephant in the room too, though, in that this has the potential to cannibalise a large part of Razzbri’s exisiting business, as in their traditional model of providing contractors with a sizable agency margin lampooned to the hourly rate.  So this, then, like many start-ups spun out of a more traditional model, is their Kodak Moment.

The challenge will be in making sure that contractors keep their profile current and up-to-date and, crucially, their availability is always accurate.  The reason is that, in reality, a large chunk of contractor recruiters’ time is spent trying to ascertain availability of contractors so they can pounce when an urgent piece of work pops up from a client.  To remove the middleman, you need to have contractors learn to communicate their availability in a less reactive way.

OCG launched a similar offering a few years ago called Contractors24Seven which failed to take off for that very reason.  Yudoozy’s original plan was to link their site to the freelancer’s LinkedIn page to keep profiles and availability up-to-date that way but LinkedIn, as is their wont, shut down access to the API.

So the clear point of difference that will give Yudoozy their greatest chance must surely be their decision to limit the product to the local market:

“Other freelance recruitment websites already exist, such as freelancer.com, but Yudoozy’s point of difference was that it was only for local freelancers so if someone in Auckland wanted a job done only freelancers from Auckland would be available, Cranfield said.”

It’s an interesting differential that should remind us that, no matter how smart or clever the technology or software is, people still like to eyeball each other before doing business.  As one recruitment owner once tweeted a couple of years ago, with a hashtag I’ve long sought to replicate, #FaceToFaceWinsTheRace.  Now that’s a trending topic if ever I saw one.

It also gives me the perfect opportunity to share with you one of my favourite comedy sketches of all time, from The League of Gentlemen, something I hope Greig will forgive me for but hey it’s Friday and I just can’t resist:

So yes indeed, a local platform for local freelancers and clients. And then the final word from Greig which, in true journalistic style, were put in his mouth at the end of his interview:

“A lot of recruiters will be not very happy we’ve done this.”

Because THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is the kind of line that gets clicks on a story, dontchaknow?  So let me know, are you happy?

I am.  It’s progress.  And it’s Friday.  Have a good one.

Jonathan Rice

Director of New Zealand rec-to-rec firm Rice & Co, co-founder of freelance recruiter platform JOYN, and people-centric technology firm superHUMAN Software. Recruitment innovator, agitator and frustrated idealist, father of two, husband of one, and lover of all things Arsenal and crafty beer.

5 Comments

  • Kevin Chappell says:

    Jonathan,

    Interesting read and I agree wholeheartedly. Technology will never replace intuition. Neither will it give technical contractors the skills to sell themselves or present decent CVs. The key to longevity in this business is to do what every other sector is doing, or has done, and that is minimise overheads and reduce cost to where everyone is happy. And to not lament about the good old days when Moet flowed on Friday night and clients enjoyed regular functions on the MD’s gin-palace!!

  • Scott says:

    Hi Jon,

    We thought we were going to change the industry when we launched 24/7 and while it has had some success, you’re right, it hasn’t taken off as we would have liked. Not for the reasons you mention though – we have manual, pro-active intervention to help with understanding availability etc. For me it comes back to the message that Mr Savage has been extoling about ‘the Craft’. These concepts might stack up in theory and look pretty on a well designed website, but what they seems to underestimate is the time/effort/skill required to manage, cajole and match the most complex of things…us humans! So, to answer your question…I’m happy…and would be surprised if anyone isn’t!

    Cheers,

    Scott

  • Nixon says:

    Digital ventures like this should be applauded and I wish them every success. They will however need to keep an eye on the market because I happen to know of a few other products that are being built right now that might cause Yudoozy a few sleepless nights. Time will tell if these type of products work at all, as we have seen a number of people try this type of model with limited success; I could rattle off quite a few (what they are doing is hardly origional). Still though, things are being tweaked and lessons are being learned and new versions of products are being considered all the time so let’s see what happens. Also there are many ways to deal to the candidate availably issue and there are a few novel approaches being developed right now, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to mention them here, out of respect for the companies currently cutting code. One thing is for sure, the move to digital in an ever-connected world is a logical step in the right direction.

  • Heya,

    Thanks again for the coverage (and the league of gentleman clip). The main reason for keeping Yudoozy to ‘local’ freelancers really was that is what the freelancers asked for. A lot of them felt that some of the other sites out there forced them to compete with freelancers in parts of the world that can afford to only charge $60 for an entire job were detrimental to the NZ market. The other reason was exactly as you mentioned – clients wanted to brief the contractor face to face and make sure nothing was lost in translation. I still really believe in specialist agencies having a place in permanent recruitment though for that reason, the years’ of relationship building is irreplaceable (for now!).

    It’s interesting hearing about 24/7, I completely applaud anyone trying or that has tried to mix things up a bit. Trying and failing is commendable, sitting in the past and slamming anyone trying to do something different is not.
    Although just to point out Yudoozy is nothing to do with Razzbri (separate business). Razzbri is still alive and well 😉

  • Marie says:

    Hello Jon, it seems that Yudoozy is not the only one that provides local services for/with freelancers as there is also https://www.zealancer.nz/ which is around for many years.