DISRUPTING & SHIFTING THE TEMPORARY MANPOWER MARKET

• Malaysian start-up Cidekick announced success in receiving RM775,000 from Cradle Fund under the DEQ800 programme
• Cidekick aims to disrupt the temporary manpower market with better transparency and lower fees

PETALING JAYA, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysian start-up Cidekick Sdn Bhd announced its success in acquiring RM775,000 seed funding from Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle).

Cidekick started off in January 2016 as a 2-person business with the ambition to become more than just a resume collecting portal for temporary manpower.

Philip Phua, Cidekick CEO and Founder, said that a very substantial part of the modern-day workforce are temporary workers (sometimes also known as ‘gig workers’) who are typically hired for short periods of time.

“Businesses engage temporary workers during seasonal periods or on project basis. This is in particular for the creative marketing, retail, hospitality, F&B, logistics, media and communication industries. To-date, Cidekick has fulfilled various workforce requests for different industries - from on-ground activation crew such as promoters and models, office jobs such as cold calling teams, right down to warehouse packing crew on an on-demand basis.”

Upon request, traditional staffing agencies will make the necessary arrangements to help business employ these temporary workers – but without screening and training the candidates or discussing payment terms or procedures first.

Given that most companies would prefer to roll their cash flow for other business purposes, remuneration to temporary workers may not be a priority expense and this may not reflect well on the company's image. There are also circumstances when the employed temporary worker does not perform up to expectations but demands for payment even before the job is completed.

Another pain point is that traditional staffing agencies taking a higher commission cut – resulting in businesses paying more for less (quality), and these workers being paid less than what they should be entitled to.

Identifying such a gap in the business process, Cidekick was conceptualized to help both parties manage the pain points and provide the support services needed. Its ultimate goal is to help employers gain the opportunity to reduce its costs with access to temporary talents.

“Our support services include requesting the employer to pay in full, upfront payment to us first, and we will only credit payment to the worker upon completion of project. Payment to the worker can be done progressively, or as a total – depending on the employer’s request and needs.”

“What sets us apart from traditional staffing agencies is that our commission is much more affordable, and we are very stringent during screening and selection of the temporary workers. In simpler terms, Cidekick helps the business to automate the admin work needed in staffing.”

“We also see an opportunity to build a talent pipeline that allows Cidekick to fill work orders quickly and with versatile talent. We are confident to be able to do so as the where the trend of the gig economy is on the rise is packed with skilled candidates who may be seeking for supplementary income or more work-life balance.”

“Living in an age where constant digital transformation often leads to businesses needing to scale up or down in an agile manner, it is important for us to offer a flexible and affordable solution that will answer to employers’ staffing demands.”

With the seeding fund, Cidekick has plans to expand its presence nationwide and build a mobile app that will allow both employers and gig workers the opportunity to engage and be engaged through a transparent process, hassle-free. The long-term goal is to grow its operations into South East Asia.

Cidekick is open for strategic collaborations and partnerships. Learn more about Cidekick and its services at www.cidekick.com or email at hello@cidekick.com.


About Cidekick Sdn Bhd
 
Cidekick is a temporary manpower solutions provider targeted at helping companies address operational cost challenges with access to temporary talents. Headquartered in Selangor, Cidekick currently has presence in Penang and Johor as well. Since 2016, Cidekick has worked with more than 100 companies from various industries including Bosch, Watson’s, TIME, Porsche, BMW, OYO, Campbell’s, Fave, Huawei, Valiram Group and more. To learn more about Cidekick and its services, visit www.cidekick.com.

SOURCE : CRADLE FUND SDN BHD