Young grads set up task platform | Sunday Observer

Young grads set up task platform

23 September, 2018
These three young professionals, Rakkitha Kumarage, Isuru Gihan and Udara Dilhan have created a task platform called Etasker – which they think is a ‘step forward in advancing the labour and services exchange market’.
These three young professionals, Rakkitha Kumarage, Isuru Gihan and Udara Dilhan have created a task platform called Etasker – which they think is a ‘step forward in advancing the labour and services exchange market’.

Two software engineers and a hospitality industry professional have come together to set up a fully fledged interactive platform, creating space for those who wish to obtain professional services and for those who wish to market their skills and abilities.

Rakkitha Kumarage is a hospitality industry professional who also studied abroad. His two partners Isuru Gihan and Udara Dilhan are software engineering graduates of the Moratuwa University. They hail from the same locality and have been friends from childhood.

When they met as adults, they often discussed various economic issues and how they could use their knowledge and skills to support less privileged people.

They did research to find a solution to reduce the ever-increasing cost of living in Sri Lanka.

“Then we found out there are 7.1 million (46.2%) people of working age in the ‘economically inactive’ population due to various reasons such as higher studies, household chores and not having enough opportunities to offer their services.

At the same time we found out there are a lot of people who wish to obtain various professional and skilled services. This gave us the opportunity to create a platform to bring these two parties together,” said Kumarage.

The result was Etasker, an interactive platform that didn’t exist previously in Sri Lanka, which combines these two segments together, he said. Soon they began working on a project to set up Etasker.lk, the platform of services.

“Anyone can use this platform to outsource, and to offer services. People have already started using our platform and we have taken measures to protect information and the privacy of those who use the site,” said Gihan talking about security measures. With Etasker, those who work on a full-time basis, but still have extra hours can make money by offering their services. For instance, those who wish to get the services of a carpenter can easily find one through our platform. There are no hidden charges. The transaction is strictly between the two parties,” Gihan said.

Dilhan said, “You can also find online marketplaces dedicated to specific areas such as education, jobs and retail goods. Their focus is on the main assets you have, house, car and a full-time job.”

With the introduction of the shared economy, people started to monetise their assets to increase their income. Uber and Airbnb are the advents in this category followed by other small-scale players globally and locally.

Rakkitha said, “Gig economy may be an alien word for many Sri Lankans. However, there are a large number of Sri Lankans who belong to Gen Z working on global gig platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork.

“The Gig economy relates to temporary work (also called odd jobs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period on the needs of the employing organisation. Etasker is a platform that uses the gig concept, however, adopted to the Sri Lanka market.” Etasker is re-imagining the labour exchange in the real world. “We are not in the task of taking existing labour and categorising them into segments. We want people to re-imagine how labour could be utilised. Imagine you need to fix a TV antenna.

However, you do not need to find a certified TV technician. It could be fixed by the person next door who has a general knowledge of antennas. This is where Etasker helps you. We have hundreds of taskers registered with us who are willing to monetise their skills to help you out with everyday jobs. The taskers are vetted by using a mobile gateway,” said Rakkitha. 

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