YoungOnes UK is now live!

Dutch on-demand jobs platform YoungOnes launches in UK!

After a record-breaking year, freelance platform YoungOnes has launched in London to match supply and demand for temporary gigs by connecting freelancers with clients
The platform offers a range of gigs across a mix of sectors from logistics and delivery to cleaning, retail, events and hospitality with companies including Ikea, H&M, Decathlon and Papa Johns
YoungOnes is the solution for the rising “hyperflex” market in which companies need to fill last-minute gaps in their workforce due to sickness or increased customer demand
The platform also fulfils the need for a more flexible work schedule for young people who may be studying, back for the holidays or working on their own businesses

Press release – London, 8 March: YoungOnes – the Dutch on-demand gig platform – has launched in London to take the hassle out of temporary recruitment by matching freelancers with companies across the capital at the touch of a button.

Following a difficult two years for the retail, logistics, hospitality and events industries across the UK, where not only the Covid-19 pandemic but a Brexit-related skills shortages and The Great Resignation has caused major difficulties in staffing levels and recruitment, YoungOnes will provide a lifeline to businesses.

Through an intuitive and easy-to-use app, YoungOnes pairs freelancers, who are predominantly students or young people aged between 18-25 looking to fit work around their studies or their own businesses, with companies that have last-minute gaps in their workforce. Whether that’s due to sickness, customer demand or increased sales, current commercial clients including Ikea, H&M, Decathlon and Papa Johns rely on the YoungOnes platform to prevent staffing shortages.

All freelancers, companies and roles are vetted and verified by the YoungOnes team and, as of February 2022, YoungOnes has teamed up with Collective Benefits, an insurance collective, with which the entire population of its freelancers in both the Netherlands and the UK is insured against liability and accidents. Yet, instead of acting as an employment agency, YoungOnes is the technology platform that allows both parties to do business directly with each other.

This approach has seen YoungOnes achieve record turnover in the past year. Active users in The Netherlands have grown threefold to 18,000 and freelancers on the app have clocked a staggering 1.8 million hours of work – an increase of 427% since the start of 2021. In total, more than 500,000 matches have now been made between clients and freelancers.

“When we were looking into countries for our expansion, launching YoungOnes in the UK made the most sense. With the UK economy bouncing back following the pandemic and with a lot of people leaving the UK due to Brexit, YoungOnes is offering the young people of the UK a new way of working and help attract them into the jobs that are now underserviced. 2021 was a year of incredible growth for our company and I have no doubt that we can replicate our success in the Netherlands over on British shores.”

Pim Graafmans, Managing Director at YoungOnes

The rise of YoungOnes and the hyperflex job market

YoungOnes was founded in 2017 as an offshoot of one of The Netherlands’ largest temp agencies YoungCapital. YoungCapital specialises in staffing solutions – recruiting, temping, training – with a particular focus on young people. During their time at YoungCapital, YoungOnes’s co-founders Pim Graafmans and Margot Roubos saw there was a gap in the market for a 24-hour, on-demand platform that took the effort and mediation out of matching a temporary worker with a job position.

They built the YoungOnes platform and app to remove the risks, hassle and costs typically associated with temporary recruitment. To put transparency and ease-of-use at the heart of its offering, and bring a sense of immediacy in response to the rising hyperflex job market.

In making the process of finding reliable and effective temporary workforce easier, faster and more efficient, the platform saves clients time and money through its:

Commitment to quality – all freelancers are rated after every job meaning clients immediately have insight into their performance and can more effectively select the best candidate for upcoming positions.
Large reach across the city – Through the YoungOnes platform, clients have direct contact with thousands of vetted and reliable freelancers at the push of a button.
Hassle-free contracts – YoungOnes takes care of all the pre-employment checks as well as insurance liabilities. Instead of fixed employment contracts with benefits such as holiday pay and sickness cover, clients only pay for the hours worked.

Freelancers on the app can decide where, when and for what hourly rate they take on an assignment and they can respond to adverts and offers 24 hours a day, 7 days. YoungOnes also allows them to collate their jobs, experiences and reviews into a readily shareable CV at the touch of a button perfect for the world of long-term work.

Building on its recent growth, YoungOnes is improving its offering in 2022. In the coming months, the platform will give freelancers the chance to further develop their skills through online training modules. For example, in the hospitality industry, where their chance of getting assignments is increased and they can charge a higher rate with further qualification. Alongside this, YoungOnes is making direct payment available to all users in collaboration with a Dutch financing partner, this means that freelancers can get their invoice paid within one minute for a small fee.

ENDS

About YoungOnes

Freelance platform YoungOnes matches current supply and demand for temporary jobs by directly connecting freelancers and clients. Temporary day jobs in all kinds of sectors are offered on the platform: from logistics and delivery to cleaning, retail and hospitality. YoungOnes originated in 2017 as a tech start-up from the YoungCapital Fund. More than 500,000 matches have now been made between clients and freelancers.