Press Release

Gigwalk Helps Businesses Recruit and Manage Local Workers

New Suite of Tools Helps Companies Create Mobile Work Groups, Communicate With Workers in the Field, and Manage Projects More Efficiently

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April. 10, 2012 -- Gigwalk today announced a new suite of mobile work tools to help companies manage their local work. Whether it’s auditing products, gathering new market data, or providing on-the-ground IT support, businesses often need to quickly scale their workforce to complete projects in communities across the country. Historically this has required finding, hiring, training, and managing short-term, local workers using decades-old methods. Beginning today, businesses can use Gigwalk’s technology to more easily find and manage qualified workers to support projects of all sizes.

“One of the hardest, and most important, parts of our business is managing feet on the street. Chegg has a presence at hundreds of colleges and universities all over the country. Gigwalk gives us the technology to very easily mobilize and manage our local brand ambassadors to help us stay connected with students,” said Justin Miller, product manager, Chegg.

“When we launched almost a year ago, our goal was simple: use mobile technology to connect companies with professionals who can complete local jobs. Since then, we’ve grown a mobile workforce that has completed over 180,000 jobs across the country for small startups to Fortune 500 customers,” said Ariel Seidman, co-founder and chief executive officer, Gigwalk. “Today, we’re making it even easier for businesses of all sizes to recruit and manage their own local workforce.”

With Gigwalk’s new suite of mobile work tools, businesses can:

• • Create Mobile Work Groups -- Mobile Work Groups give companies a way to maintain a network of people they have worked with in the past and want to work with in the future. Companies can post their jobs specifically to their groups, more broadly to the Gigwalk network, or to both. Mobile Work Groups give businesses total control over who sees and ultimately does their jobs. To build their groups, businesses can recruit new workers through Gigwalk, or they can invite their current workers to join their Gigwalk group. Gigwalk analyzes the work performance of over 130,000 workers in the Gigwalk network to help businesses find the right workers for the right jobs. When evaluating a candidate, businesses can see the number of Gigs each applicant has completed, the applicant’s highest level of education, his or her current occupation, and his or her on-time rate.
• • Communicate with Workers in Real-Time -- Gigwalk’s new instant messaging feature enables businesses to communicate directly with workers in the field in real-time to answer questions, provide guidance, and share tips at any point during the job. Businesses receive an email whenever action needs to be taken, such as when they’ve received a message from a worker, when an application to a Gig has been received, or when work has been submitted and is ready for review. Businesses can respond directly through the Gigwalk platform, and messages are sent to workers’ mobile phones.
• • Give Workers the Tools They Need to Get Work Done in the Field -- Gigwalk’s new integrated field tools include a survey guide, a notepad, and a photo library, all designed to give businesses a way to ensure field work is completed as needed. Using Gigwalk’s new survey tool, businesses can outline detailed instructions for collecting information in the field. Then as workers are doing the job in the field, they can document additional information in the notepad, and they can easily upload photos to the photo library, right from their mobile phones.

“Gigwalk helps us test our mobile payments app in multiple locations across the U.S. in-the-moment and in real-time,” said Kevin McKeand, vice president of sales, Tabbedout. “The latest enhancements to Gigwalk will only make it faster and simpler for a startup like ours to quickly find new beta testers for our app. What I love the most is that we're helping people all over the United States find extra cash in this economy while helping Tabbedout do field research.”

More information about Gigwalk’s business offerings can be found at http://gigwalk.com/business. The Gigwalk app is available for free in the iTunes store.

About Gigwalk

Gigwalk is a mobile work marketplace that pairs businesses large and small with a skilled mobile workforce. Since its launch in May 2011, members of the Gigwalk network have completed more than 180,000 professional Gigs. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif., and is backed by Harrison Metal, SoftTech, Greylock Discovery, Accelerator Ventures, and Founder Collective.

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