Quikr starts recruitment platform for blue & grey collar workers

Online classifieds firm Quikr, owned and operated by Quikr Technologies Pvt. Ltd, has launched a dedicated job search platform named QuikrJobs.

It will focus on blue and grey collar jobs in addition to entry-level positions, as per a press statement.

QuikrJobs also has a feature that allows users with no internet connection to create an online profile with a missed call.

Quikr itself has been using the platform to recruit for call centre operations, sales force and delivery needs, it said.

"Historically those in low salary brackets have not been targeted by the digital industry but increase in internet penetration across India is an opportunity to change this equation. I believe that empowering every person on the street with a meeting place such as QuikrJobs with current lakhs of recruiters will help boost PM Modi's job creation agenda," said Pranay Chulet, founder & CEO of Quikr.

The company claims that over 25 lakh active candidate profiles and more than 16 lakh job listings are there on the platform.

QuikrJobs is part of the company's strategy to create separate verticals for key segments. Quikr had launched its automobile vertical QuikrCars in the second week of August and unveiled its real estate vertical QuikrHomes earlier this month.

QuikrJobs would compete with the likes of Aasaanjobs, Babajobs, Nano Jobs, Udhyog.in, saralrozgar.com and others.

Founded in 2008 by Chulet and Jiby Thomas (who quit the firm later), Quikr was originally started as Kijiji India. The firm later rebranded to Quikr. It is a classifieds business with over 30 million consumers who sell, buy, rent or find products and services across categories such as electronics and household goods, real estate, cars, bikes, jobs and services. The firm claims that small businesses across 1,000 cities are using the site.

Quikr, which primarily competes with OLX, raised $150 million (over Rs 900 crore) in April from Tiger Global, Swedish fund Kinnevik and hedge fund Steadview Capital Management. The company, whose other backers include Omidyar Network, Matrix Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Warburg Pincus, Norwest Ventures, and eBay Inc, has so far raised $350 million, according to data from VCCEdge.

Online marketplace Snapdeal recently announced its decision to take on Quikr and OLX with a separate zero-commission mobile marketplace named Shopo which allows sellers to register for free and interact with buyers via chat messages.