Softwork.xyz Limited, a software development, has upgraded its platform, adding features such as email and identity verification to enhance quality services for users.
The technology platform connects thousands of employers to preferred freelancers with soft skills, and the new upgrade which compels users to do an identity verification will allow both parties to communicate effortlessly.
Speaking on the new development, Chigozie Okwara, co-founder/ CEO of Softwork.xyz, said with the growing need of the country for the National Identity Management Scheme, it is important “we add that into our verification system, so people will have to send in their identification before they can be verified them on the platform.”
“There is a lot of fraud going on in the country. We made sure we curb that out. Freelancers would have an email and an I.D card verification done, and at the back end, the admins would go through every of the verification done,” Okwara said.
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Founded in 2018 by cofounders, Noah Ibrahim and Chigozie Okwara, the software platform has over 5000 users, with freelancers and employers, connecting and collaborating to get work done.
The company has a vision of reducing Nigeria’s unemployment rate which rose to an all-time high of 27 percent in the second quarter of 2020.
Through Softwork platform, businesses and individuals can hire freelancers with technology skills like Graphics Designing, Website and Mobile App Development, as well as Digital Marketing.
The technology skills span across Android App Developer, IOS App Developer, E-commerce Developer, Java Developer, as well as developers in Front-end, 3D Animator, Adobe After Effects, Blog Writers, Influencer Marketing, Content Marketing, among other digital skills.
“We match employers, in need of soft skills, with the right softworker, within 24 hours,” Okwara said, noting that on the platform, the name softworker is used in place of freelancer.
“With COVID-19, a lot of things changed. Opposed to the traditional work system where people are interested in knowing the people they are working with one by one, this time, people are searching for people to get jobs done for them, without them having any physical contacts,” he said.
For Okwara, the platform was not built to cater only for the jobless, but also those who are also employed and possess soft skills that can enable them to earn extra income.
Payment process under the platform would be held in an escrow account, in such a way that the payments are received and verified from an employer, and credited to the freelancer when the job is done; in turn, the company takes service fee of 10 percent which Okwara said is the cheapest among global competitors.
While noting that the new upgrade took about three months to complete, with unique features to give users value for their time and money, Okwara explained further that the platform also has a dispute resolution time that helps in resolving speedily impending complaints that may arise between an employer and a Softworker.
Not only will the platform serve as a link between Softworkers and employers, but it will also be organising periodic training to equip Softwokers; and plans to start up a training academy, Okwara said.
