When the enhanced community quarantine was first imposed in Metro Manila and the rest of the country, many businesses laid off most of their workers to manage costs. The Labor Department disclosed that more than 1 million workers were affected by business suspensions.
MyKuya, a local super app that offers personal on-demand services, found this as a chance to further enact one of its core missions – to provide job opportunities for Filipinos.
MyKuya has done this by expanding its services and kickstarting initiatives with various Philippine conglomerates, the latest of which is a partnership with Ayala Malls, to provide consumers more options through their MyKuya personal assistants.
MyKuya users can simply tap the icon pertaining to Ayala Malls in the app and book a Kuya or Ate to purchase goods currently available in the mall. Users can tell their Kuya or Ate to purchase items from multiple stores through one booking, streamlining the entire process of the errand. In cases where cash purchases might exceed P1,000, users can transfer additional money to their Kuya or Ate through GCash or hand over the petty cash when the partner rider goes to them first. These features ensure a faster experience for the consumer while driving traffic to the malls.
The initiative will not only benefit MyKuya users but also empower Kuyas and Ates to take on meaningful work to keep their families afloat during the ECQ and possibly the general community quarantine that will follow it.
“The pandemic forced several businesses and establishments to suspend operations, greatly affecting employees, especially those working under a contractual arrangement. With Ayala Malls and their merchants finally opening their doors to us, we will now be able to keep up with our users’ growing demand of places to shop from and onboard more Kuyas and Ates who need a source of income,” said Shahab Shabibi, founder of MyKuya.
When MyKuya launched in 2017, one of its main goals was to create job opportunities for 1 million Filipinos by 2022.
In March alone when the ECQ started, MyKuya created job opportunities for almost 10,000 Filipinos. The company launched an online job fair and received a record of 1,000 applications in just 45 minutes. This inspired MyKuya to continue onboarding Filipinos who are seeking ways to provide for their families during this difficult time in history.
“Many of the people we’ve onboard are actually former contractual workers for industries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. They were already struggling with their working and living conditions then and even more so when they were laid off because of the ECQ,” said Shabibi.
“We at MyKuya are committed to alleviating their burdens by giving them the chance to work.”