As with most things, the eternal challenge/opportunity equation has been knocked for something of a loop in the Covid-19 era. But leveraging the coronavirus to positive effect is still possible, as evidenced by a pair of women behind new online job platform Werkzy.
Werkzy”™s aim is to provide employers ”“ mostly small businesses ”“ “with a talent pool of professionals who might need flexible hours for a period in their life,” co-founder Asya Geller told the Business Journal. “We wanted to be as inclusive as possible, and when Covid came along, it just made even more sense.”
Geller, who lives in Greenwich, and co-founder Talia Friedman, based in Los Angeles, first met while working in client and business development at Sotheby”™s in Manhattan ”“ Geller for about nine years and Friedman for over 16 (“She was my boss for a couple of years,” Geller said). Although they “loved our time there,” Geller said circumstances had changed enough by the end of 2019 that they started looking for other opportunities.
“I”™m a mom with two young kids doing the commute to New York City,” Geller said. “That had turned into a struggle, and then when Sotheby”™s came under new ownership, we both thought it was the perfect moment to leave the company.”
The 275-year-old auction house was acquired in June 2019 by media tycoon Patrick Drahi in a deal worth roughly $3.7 billion. Soon after, he decided to take the company private, jettisoning dozens of high-level executives in favor of managers from his own cable company, Altice.
Friedman followed her out the door in January of this year, leaving the pair “trying to figure out what our next steps were,” Geller said. “We decided to create something that was more local and flexible than bigger job sites that don”™t necessarily highlight these types of jobs.”
Geller said the decision to target small businesses was further fueled by the success her husband, Mike Geller of Mike”™s Organic Delivery in Stamford, had realized.
“He knows what it”™s like to have a small business and what”™s involved,” she said, “as well as how meaningful and impactful it can be to have a small business.”
One such lesson came when a public relations professional happened by Mike”™s and ultimately “revolutionized his PR ”“ now he”™s been on Fox News and in The New York Times, with a lot of it done through word-of-mouth and networking.”
With the concept of Werkzy in hand, Geller and Friedman watched as the Covid crisis unfolded. “That”™s been a huge tragedy,” she said, “but it also showed us the need that was there ”“ the work-from-home issue, the childcare issue. It became really obvious that we needed to be a part of that change.”
Launched officially in November, the aim of Werkzy is to help those looking to rejoin the workforce in a flexible capacity find the right match, and to realize the fabled “work/life balance.”
For a $35 membership fee, employers fill out a job description, which is then posted on the Werkzy site; membership also allows them to browse the site”™s talent base. (Three jobs can be listed for $65, and five for $100.) On the talent side, since they arguably could find employment from multiple sources on Werkzy, membership starts at $19 a month.
Even though such matching is done entirely online, Geller said that physically being on each coast should help build the company”™s brand; the hope is to eventually take it national.
“We”™re very passionate about helping people to find better work options,” she added. “And small businesses are so critical to our economy. We want to do our part in keeping them thriving into the future.”
