Today I was listening to the 2WebCrew where Cameron Reilly mentioned a new Australian startup PloyMe. PloyMe is a job board with a difference. It is aimed at casual workers where job seekers once registered only apply for shifts via SMS. Shifts are sent to a job seekers phone and the first to reply “wins” the shift.
The benefits are huge for both the employer and job seeker, from their web site PloyMe provides a good summary:-
Employers
- No expensive temp agency hourly rates
- Casuals become YOUR employees
- No Agency Placement Fees
- Search for available Casuals 24/7
- Need Staff Now!
- Sick of paying $165 on Job Boards and getting no results
Job Seekers
- No resumes, no interviews, no hassles
- Shift offers sent by SMS and email
- Free for casual workers
- Name your hourly rate
- Work the hours you want
- Pickup extra shifts to pay off your bills
Now obviously this service will not for for your $1000/day project managers or consultants (or could it??), but for casual hospitality work I can see great potential. I will be watching what happens to them.
Michael Specht 
Just pimped this to the local cafe owner who’s going through single-engagement casual workers at a ridiculous rate and has been working the shop by himself for the last fortnight … so let’s see if the service PloyMe works for him!