Australia’s university students can now utilise a new and unique employment platform that aims to connect them and protect them.
The founders behind Uniworker – Brisbane-based Tim Woodhouse and his two business partners Christian Hedberg and Jethro Warren – say they have spent almost three years of planning and development to ensure the best interests of casual workers are its core, after seeing their own children attend university and struggle with casual work.
“Like so many parents of uni students, we saw our kids struggle with the dilemma of balancing work and their study (and social) timetable, and we lived through the frustrations of them trying to piece it all together. Uniworker gives power to the students, and flexibility and options to businesses and homeowners who need work done,” says Mr Woodhouse.
Uniworker was designed and built in south-east Queensland but is now officially national – and has international ambitions to become the world’s largest ‘job connector’ of uni students globally.
The dedicated platform invites tertiary students looking for flexible and unstructured work opportunities to connect with employers offering work without ongoing commitment, hours that fit into student schedules, and a minimum rate of $25 per hour.
“There’s more than 1.6 million tertiary students studying at 42 local universities across Australia – this is a formidable workforce, and it’s one filled with students who often need part time and casual work stay studying, but also students who want to achieve and learn, so it’s a workforce of enthusiasm and ambition,” Mr Woodhouse says.
“Until now, there’s been no dedicated platform that connects students to jobs, with the best interest of the students at its core. Now there is.”
Uniworker recently assisted the regional Brookfield Show, with 48 students working 72 shifts over three days of the event. Now the platform is calling for more hirers and students to sign up nationally with 20,000 students and over 8,000 businesses and homeowners expected to be operational by the end of 2024.
University of Queensland (UQ) student Thomas Stevens is studying a Bachelor of Engineering and Business Management and also rows for UQ – a busy scheduled that he says makes finding part-time work with a full study and training schedule challenging.
“Who is going to employ a full-time university student and rower? Uniworker presents the best possible option for me, as I can find work that fits in my schedule anytime,” he says.
Features and functionality
- 100 per cent for uni students only
- Base pay rate of $25 per hour to help prevent exploitation
- Status tiers: the more students work, the higher status a student achieves
- ‘Have a crack’ feature allows students to proactively seek tasks/jobs that align directly with their interests, skills, courses
- Work in groups feature enables students to work with their mates
- Hot spots: showing the popular areas where most students and hirers are
- In-app incentives: encouraging students to refer other students and hirers to the app
- Rewards program offers incentives for active users
Uniworker for students:
- Ability to pick and choose from jobs posted
- Swift payment upon approval of work
- Hourly rate (not a job rate) at or above award (plus any tips)
- One-stop shop for flexible and varying work opportunities
- Multiple streams of revenue available
- Opportunity to earn recurring income and build a business
- Build relationships for future full-time employment
- Upskill by working different employment opportunities
- Safety precautions on the app for arrival and departures, etc
What’s in it for the businesses and households?
- Ability to hire individuals or groups with very little notice period
- Presents students who are available for short-term, long-term and holiday work
- Takes hassle away from hiring and firing
- Handles payments to the students via employer’s preferred payment method
- Addresses shortage of labour and ‘trust’ issue
What’s in it for the universities?
- Provides high-level stats back to uni (eg. number of total hours worked by students)
- Promotes university where the student is enrolled
- Flexibility to suit students’ study schedules
Informed by lived experience of uni students
Mr Woodhouse says a group of students had joined the business to advise and build out the proposition to ensure that Uniworker was built “by students, for students”.
“We provide businesses and households with commitment-free and ‘last-minute’ labour while having a feel-good notion of supporting uni students,” he says.
“It’s pretty simple really, but there’s a whole back-end that ensures job clarity, secure facilitation of swift payment, security, and the ability for students to recruit other students and businesses and homeowners.”
The beauty of Uniworker, says Mr Woodhouse, is that “it could be literally anything”.
“If a uni student is red hot at IT or an aspiring gardener, or just a neat freak that’s good at cleaning, then there’s a job for you. If you have special skills or qualifications, students can lean in and use them, or they can source whatever they want – even holiday work at properties around the country. It’s pretty exciting stuff.”
