YOUR INDUSTRY
Genevieve Griffin-George, PICMI’s founder
App speeds up recruitment Contactless recruiting – thanks to new App. By Elaine Fisher Growers and post-harvest operators can reduce the hassles and paperwork involved in recruiting staff by using an app which automatically selects those suited for the job. Developed by Kiwi agritech start-up PICMI, the app enables employers to hire staff without meeting them face-to-face. For job seekers, it offers the chance to find out what they need to know about a job before applying, and all the ‘paperwork’ is done online. “If the applicant meets all the criteria for the position, they fill in their details and agree to the employment contract, which is usually completed within 20 minutes,” says Genevieve Griffin-George, PICMI’s founder. “Using our cloud-based tool we’re seeing growers reduce hiring time by 70% from application to contract to induction. For job seekers, we’re reducing the friction to find and do work. They know straight away if they have a job or not. Most job seekers apply for many jobs and then wait, hoping to hear back.
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The ORCHARDIST : MARCH 2021
“This causes frustration for both job seekers and growers, who find that many applicants aren’t actually available. We can increase the capacity of our labour force by enabling job seekers to find seasonal work that suits their needs and give them the flexibility to choose part-time or full-time seasonal work, based on location.” The idea for PICMI grew out of Genevieve’s experience of managing her family’s kiwifruit orchard near Motueka and the issues around finding, hiring and managing seasonal staff. She formed a team with two experienced technologists, and together they have been working alongside growers for more than a year to perfect the technology. “We are a mighty but a small team of three, dedicated to solving a problem for New Zealand growers, but one that’s a global problem too – the time it takes to hire people. We’ve built a tech that is easy to use and does what it should without being complex.”
