Filipino workers who were rendered jobless during the lockdown got a new lease on life from home-service app MyKuya, which was only too happy to embrace them in its fold.
“The pandemic forced several businesses and establishments to suspend operations, greatly affecting employees, especially those working under a contractual arrangement. With malls and their merchants finally opening their doors to us, we will now be able to keep up with our users’ growing demand of places to shop from and onboard more Kuyas and Ates who need a source of income,” said Shahab Shabibi, founder of MyKuya.
Shabibi said most onboarded employees were former contractual workers — one of the industries hit hard by the pandemic. To accommodate more workers on its platform, MyKuya has recently inked partnerships with large local conglomerates like Ayala Malls.
“We have been able to provide them with hourly labor. You can actually do multiple bookings in one go. Our users have been doing grocery shopping, pharmacy runs, picking up things and delivering food — all in a single transaction. This is the new normal for our customers,” Shabibi said.
In a nutshell, MyKuya provides personal assistants for its users who are billed by the hour. These assistants can perform messenger services, personal assistance, house cleaning, delivery of groceries, queuing up, and even distributing flyers or “flyering”.
With a four-hour service of flyering priced at P513, the designated ‘Ate’ or ‘Kuya’ will hand out any material chosen by the user, at any location as long as it complies with MyKuya’s Terms of Use.
Aside from distributing giveaways or interacting with the targeted audience, the customer can also make them attend staff training as well.
The team behind MyKuya was the same team that brought the SMS-based personal concierge HeyKuya. The app aims provide a means for both the unemployed and under-employed to have access for full-time and part-time job opportunities.
MyKuya already has expansion set on its pipeline, with more services and initiatives, as well as corporate partnerships. Currently, its partner riders come equipped with face masks, sanitizers, and gloves when accomplishing tasks to ensure the safety of customers and riders alike, and salaries are sent through the mobile wallet GCash.
