Google Launches Informal Sector Focused Job Marketplace Kormo In Dhaka

Google is everywhere. The search giant has enabled job search directly in its search results a few days ago in this part of the world. Now, it has come to disrupt the informal job market in Dhaka.

In a move that is likely to have a significant impact on how people find jobs and employers hire in the informal sector in Bangladesh, Google has officially launched a new job marketplace in Dhaka for the informal sector jobs, aptly named Kormo, which means work in Bangla. The mobile-based platform will connect job seekers and employers, in the informal sector such as sales representative, office assistant etc, while also helping job seekers to level-up their skills by providing career development tips and information.

86 percent of the country's labor force is employed in the informal sector. There is no dedicated job marketplace or structured system for them. Employers often go through inefficient ad-hoc processes to hire people. And job seekers often miss out on opportunities. The local leader in online job marketplace Bdjobs has entered the segment more recently. But the segment offers an incredible opportunity and Kormo aims to dedicatedly serve the segment.

Kormo has been developed under the Google's Area 120 programme, an incubator program that deals with developing new innovative solutions for emerging markets inside Google, and has been in making for over a year now.

What you need to know

• Kormo is a mobile-based job marketplace for informal sector jobs that connects job seekers with the employers.
• It also plans to help job seekers to level-up their skills by offering tips, education, and information. The ambition is to enable young people and give them access to opportunities to earn and improve their lives
• Job seekers can easily download Kormo app and open accounts and find jobs of their interest and it will soon enable employers to post job ads on the platform.
• Currently, there are some 1,000 employers who have posted vacancy notices for 21,000 jobs under 35 categories on Kormo. Kormo has already worked with employers like Shwapno and more
• It currently covers only Dhaka and plans to expand to other big cities gradually
• The project, which is still at an experimental phase, has been in making for a year now
• The informal sector is way bigger in size than the formal job markets. According to some source, about 86% of people are employed in the informal sector
• Kormo is mainly focused on informal sector jobs and does not plan to get into the graduate job market where players like Bdjobs and Everjobs operate.
• In recent years, Bdjobs, the leader in the online job marketplace in Bangladesh, has started pushing into the informal job sector as part of their new growth strategy. It will be interesting to see how this pans out as Kormo pushes forward in this segment of the market

Where you can go to learn more?

You can go to https://kormo.area120.com/index_bn.html or download Kormo app from Google Play store to learn more, create your profile or post jobs.