UNDURE

UNited DURING RECESSION

This site was first created around 2010 when the recession hit India (where I had just started working). The site is not active anymore but who knows when I need to rejuvenate it?

tldr; Group freelancing based on skillsets for developing product needs/enhancements. Flattest hierarchy with no management overhead.

Details:

Recession has different effects on different industries. The solution proposed here is a software one for recession. The idea is to enable this website UNDURE.org to be a non-profit software solution for helping people who lose their jobs or companies which have software needs but are at the verge of closing down without alternatives.

Managing business is difficult during recession making the availability of skilled workforce for a lower capital investment critical for recession management. Therefore, correct planning of workforce through this system (website) may prove to be useful.

At the time of recession, mass layoffs in software companies are unfortunately common. This implies less job opportunities and therefore, less consumer spending. During the recession in 2007, consumer expenditures decreased substantially in every major category. It sloped down from $52,203 in 2007 to $48,109 in 2010. The product value drastically comes down in terms of product demand. This is when the software companies incur huge losses.

To handle this kind of emergency, UNDURE.ORG was developed. It works as follows: <br>

People with skills and experience who lose their jobs register on UNDURE.org as users. These users are equipped with required skillsets to do a software job. Based on their skills, working-groups are automatically created. For example, twenty people who know Javascript are grouped together. Remember, these are not amateur coders; rather they are professionals. <br>

Now consider a product based company that is under budget reconsiderations and requires that a product/enhancement be developed within a limited budget. This is when the solution (website) comes into picture. The product company posts the requirement on the website. The job is assigned to a group based on the skills required to complete it. People within the group create a workforce and one of them takes the initiative of being the leader and manage the work progress. This reduces the overhead cost of managing.

Advantage: No corporation coming into picture. Therefore, no overhead cost. The social and economic effects of recession can be managed. Mental distress due to loss of job can be avoided. The pay is decent. This amount, though not extravagant, is sufficient to maintain a balanced lifestyle.

Why will this system work? People who just lost their jobs because of worsening economic conditions around are self-motivated. They will work without a manager. The feedback system within each group will maintain the velocity and quality of the project, and any non-performing engineer would get sent out. The users get to continue working on their skillsets as well.