With over 4000 Artisans, LaborHack is now the TaskRabbit of Africa

When Oare, the CEO of LaborHack set out to build LaborHack, she had one goal “help businesses and households get access to a pool of vetted artisans on-demand to perform services for them.

One of the biggest challenges at the time was the struggle to find skilled artisans to perform high-quality services. Artisans who were trained and skilled in their crafts also lacked opportunities to do work and get paid.

Additionally, Nigeria faced a critical shortage of artisans, with the construction industry suffering the most. The President of the Association of Building Artisans of Nigeria, Mr Jimmy Oshinubi, said the greatest challenge faced by artisans is the lack of motivation to work in the industry. Despite the training and certification to practice, there was no access to projects for them to work on.

Even worse, the youths didn’t believe in making money as artisans, hence there are artisans over age 70yrs old still doing various tasks. “I’m afraid of what will happen when the present generation of artisans passes away. Nigeria might end up relying solely on Chinese carpenters, Togolese, and Beninese for construction work. The youths need training and opportunities to work to grow the construction sector and the nation,” he said.

Paul Erubami, the Chief Executive Officer of Max-Migold Limited said: “We have a chronic scarcity of skilled personnel at the lower rung and middle level. It is difficult to get a group of people, who can digitize projects; we must bring people from abroad to help in doing electrical electronics modeling in projects because we couldn’t find the skill in Nigeria.”

Recognizing the challenges faced by both clients/project managers and artisans - such as finding skilled workers, ensuring quality, and maintaining trust - LaborHack was born.

In 2019, LaborHack was launched as an online marketplace connecting businesses and individuals to skilled artisans. The platform creates a direct link between clients and artisans who are dedicated to performing on-demand services, and available whenever the need arises.

“Seeing that it’s important to dig through the large pool of artisans that we have in Nigeria to identify the ones that are good, LaborHack ensures that you can access them when you need to,” Oare said.
With over 4,500 skilled workers in its pipeline, LaborHack simplifies the process of hiring and working with artisans for homeowners and businesses.

“We are controlling the pipeline of the artisans, making sure that we only use artisans that have been trained and vetted, ensuring that the work that they do is done to the highest standard with little margin for error as well as assuring the safety of clients when they go to their homes.” Oare adds.

The platform supports many service providers including plumbers, welders, AC technicians, carpenters, masons, painters, solar technicians, and so much more. Its seamless interface makes it easy to submit a request for a task and get matched with the best artisan around you.

When requesting a service, LaborHack requires that you indicate the urgency of the task and an inspection date & time that works for you. This ensures that they fully understand the context of the work you need to be done and deliver on time.

Artisans on LaborHack are recruited online and undergo a thorough vetting process that evaluates their authenticity, background, and skill level. These artisans, called LaborHack Pros are given international certificates benchmarked against the UK Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB). They are then matched to service requests online to provide premium services to clients.

For them, being on LaborHack was a major turning point in their career. “When I met the founder of LaborHack, she told me it's a platform that connects artisans to jobs. I wasn’t getting jobs as normal then, so I decided to join. So far, I’ve been trained in different soft skills. Now, I’m a certified Laborhack Pro. It has given me more access to jobs and contracts. I’ve learned timely delivery to meet the client's expectations. It has also allowed me to have cordial relationships with my clients and build trust.” Michael Clements, an Aluminum and Stainless steel fabrication expert says.

Kayode says being on LaborHack has allowed him to focus on the skills he truly enjoys and earn higher for it. “I’ve been at LaborHack for over 3 years and there’s a lot of difference from how I used to work. Here, everybody just focuses on the one they can do and do it well. Not that I will be the only one running cable, fixing AC, and trying to talk with clients that come. They pay fast and even call the clients to confirm if what I’ve done is good.”

Artisans also get migration and education loan support to Canada to help them study and work in the country. Combined with the international certificates they get, these artisans can live and work anywhere in the world with their skill sets.

In addition, LaborHack in partnership with Grooming Microfinance Bank provides artisans with tool financing support of up to 80% with a repayment period of 3 to 6 months. This support helps artisans access the tools they need to deliver quality work without the burden of upfront costs.

LaborHack’s interface is so easy to use that it makes the process of hiring artisans straightforward. As a homeowner or individual, all you need to do is specify the type of artisan
whether carpenter, plumber, etc, the type of work to be done, and when you want to get it done.

You can also set the urgency of the task and an inspection date to help LaborHack evaluate the scope of work to be done. All of this can be completed in 2 minutes or less. Your request will be matched to an artisan and you will be notified by email or phone call.

“The last plumber I worked with just made everything worse. My kitchen sink went from manageable to terrible.” Naomi says. When I came across LaborHack, I decided to try it, not like I had anything to lose. I was surprised at the professionalism and quality of service because it doesn’t happen every day.”

Businesses also benefit greatly from LaborHack's tailored solutions. The platform offers specialized services for construction, maintenance, facility management, and installations, making it easier for companies to find the right talent for their specific needs.

Frank Atsagbede, CEO, Orritech Nig. Ltd describes LaborHack as outside the norm. “I have worked with LaborHack on past projects and have seen a marked difference in the quality of talent they provide. It is a game-changer for the industry at large.”

Visit www.laborhack.com to hire a Pro from LaborHack