Words and photography by the team at Jooble
Nowadays, most businesses are claiming to be socially responsible. It means that together with increasing profits and shareholder value, companies also set a goal of helping socially vulnerable categories of people or the environment. Usually, businesses choose one or several problems to focus on. Companies provide financial support, spread awareness, defend the interests of those in need, and offer viable long-lasting solutions to solve problems.
Social responsibility has become a vital part of business activity. Consumers and investors demand from companies a more conscious attitude to crises our society is dealing with. You can’t just make money pretending nothing is happening. If businesses don’t take into account the needs of society and future generations, they are likely to lose clients and partners. What does the social responsibility of companies look like in practice?
Being socially responsible by helping people find jobs
Today we would like to consider an example of Jooble, a leading job search engine worldwide. ‘’We help people find jobs’’, — this is a simple, yet self-explanatory slogan employees use when they have to describe the ultimate goal of their activity.
The company was established in Ukraine more than 15 years ago. It has experienced lots of transformations and significantly expanded over the course of time turning from a student startup into one of the biggest sources for job search in the world. Creating a platform where people can find the best-fitting professional options is a socially responsible act in itself. As the founders figured out later, it is also quite a profitable business.
Jooble’s core product is a job search website. It made it to the top 10 most visited employment resources worldwide. The website functions as an aggregator, i.e. it collects vacancies from more than 140 thousand sources. This time-savvy technology simplifies the job search for candidates. All relevant offers that could potentially catch a job seeker’s eye are in one place.
Recently, Jooble has also been actively developing its own platforms for posting vacancies — job boards. Nowadays, the company is working on a system of local job boards where employers post their vacancies and look for potential employees.
During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Jooble decided to focus on helping people find remote vacancies. Simultaneously, it also launched a campaign aimed at assisting blue-collar specialists in finding suitable jobs. Development teams created an array of mini-boards where users from different countries could get detailed information about the most sought-after blue-collar jobs in their regions. People could review the average salaries, professional requirements, and check how many vacancies were in the field. As a result, users got a profound vision of the labor market for blue-collar specialists.
Technological innovations at the service of people
Thanks to intuitive UI, jobseekers can find interesting career opportunities in 69 countries. Using location, salary, work experience, and type of employment filters, people narrow down the search and adjust it to their aims. After the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February, Jooble left the Russian and Belarusian markets. The platform turned into an information resource where people from countries-aggressors could discover the truth about atrocities committed by the Russian army on Ukrainian territory.
In 2022 the company decided to launch a Startup Studio. Its goal is to detect new business opportunities and add more products to the company’s portfolio. The idea of helping people find jobs remains the pivotal one. In a long-term perspective, Jooble sees itself as an ecosystem supporting companies and users at every stage of the job search and recruitment process.
The Startup Studio consists of various tech-driven start-ups in the spheres related to job search.
After getting a product-market fit, the most effective and viable projects will become a part of the Jooble product ecosystem. To reach this goal, the company is funding and providing the Startup studio with operational resources. Besides, it also shares professional knowledge and mentors specialists in this sphere. Thus, Jooble also contributes to the education and development of young professionals passionate about matching employers and employees.
The company sets a goal to grow not only technological solutions, but also specialists who can maintain them and make such products thrive. Jooble founders are sure that innovations should be at the service of people. Therefore, the idea of guiding users through all stages of job search has become dominant in the company’s strategic vision.
Supporting people in need
The company is constantly helping an orphanage. This assistance includes providing various resources and funding.
In 2021, Jooble decided to go beyond this help and organized a conference for children dedicated to career guidance and development. Specialists shared their tips and experience on how to combine education and professional growth, and delivered lectures about the most sought-after jobs of the upcoming future.
Children even got consultations on professional development. Leading Jooble specialists told how they started their careers, how crucial education was on the career path, and what hard and soft skills are the most valuable in the labor market. Kids got materials and guidelines on how to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and what they should learn to succeed in the competitive job search world.
Currently, Jooble is actively helping people who got severely affected by Russian aggression.
This assistance includes evacuating inhabitants of the territories near the frontline. Also, during the first months of the full-scale invasion, the company shared its office with an NGO helping people who had to stay in the Kyiv subway due to the missile strikes.
Jooble regularly donates to trustworthy and well-known organizations such as ‘’Come back alive’’ and ‘’Serhii Prytula charity foundation’’. It also tightly cooperates with Ukrainian authorities dealing with information policy and countering Russian propaganda. Securing users and providing people with proven information has become a vital part of Ukrainian resistance.
Jooble is supporting its employees. Specialists can easily work from any place in the world. During the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, people got an opportunity to stay in the western regions of Ukraine which were less affected by the Russian missiles. Currently, employees have an opportunity to work in several offices in Ukraine and abroad.
Summary
Businesses have to perceive society as a stakeholder. Otherwise, investors and consumers will doubt the idea of working with your company.
Jooble learned this lesson long ago. Nowadays, the company is actively helping people by providing them with professional and educational opportunities. Its aim of making a match between employers and employees is also evolving with time, nudging technological development and expansion of the company’s portfolio.
However, Jooble is its people in the first place. During the scariest moment in Ukrainian modern history, the company stayed afloat and helped its employees.