School leavers in South Wales will be able swipe right for jobs from early next year with the new Mifuture app
With miFuture, young people out of work will be able to swipe for jobs on their smartphone
An app which describes itself as a “tinder for careers” is set to launch in early 2018, following a successful pilot.
MiFuture, which is based in Caerphilly, will allow school leavers throughout South Wales to match with job opportunities, apprenticeships and further education based on their qualifications and aspirations.
And with Wales Online reporting last year that Wales had one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the UK, it seems the app might come at the perfect time.
Those figures showed that almost 20% of 16-24 year olds were out of work, putting Wales behind only London and the North-East, and this is something that Gemma Hallett, MiFuture’s founder, seems intent on fixing.
Hallett said it is her mission to help 100,000 young Welsh people into work, adding that she hopes to reach every community in Wales, no matter the timescale involved.
She said, “Our aim is to make a massive impact on young people, and in particular reach and engage those furthest from the labour market and in second or third generation poverty,” adding that she also hopes to reach “those who are about to leave education and training, and those who have already left but are yet to commit to a particular path.”
If the app is successful, job books might be a thing of the past
The version of the product that is launched will in large part be based on feedback that was collected during its recently concluded pilot phase.
This saw miFuture set up primarily as a website with basic functionality, and allowed users to give feedback to help shape the product.
Hallett explained that the feedback told her young people wanted a solution that was as easy to use as possible and was personalised for each individual.
This led her to believe that an app would be the perfect solution for helping Generation Z into work.