Unemployment is one of many global challenges that has continued to raise concerns. The world’s unemployment rate as of 2021 was between 6.3 – 6.5 percent, with predominance in underdeveloped and developing countries.
In providing the solution to this global unemployment crisis, WorkTorch was developed.
WorkTorch
WorkTorch previously known as QuickHire is a career discovery platform that partners with job seekers to find career fulfilment by aligning them with the right job and advancement opportunities. This unique approach helps provide a better engaged and focused talent pool for employers.
Its founders, sisters Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall, said the rebrand was a year and a half in the making as they realized the changing relationship between employees and employers.
Launched last April, the company announced that it has more than 40,000 applicants on its record actively looking for a job, with at least 1,000 interviews a month scheduled via the platform. As part of its rebrand, users will now have access to a career development portal where they can track professional growth, as well as connect with others who have similar interests.
In the same vein, employers will now be able to access new retention tools to look at national and regional data trends, as well as receive feedback from their employees on their current working experiences.
“Finding the right talent is just half the battle,” Gladney said. “Where companies are being hit the hardest is losing people faster than they’re coming in the door.”
WorkTorch Seed Funding
WorkTorch recently announced its closing of a $2.2 million seed round led by Tenzing Capital. Along with the raise comes the name change from QuickHire to WorkTorch, to encapsulate the business’ focus on employee recruiting and retention.
Gladney said it took about six months for WorkTorch’s seed round to close because the founders felt pressure from investors amid the economic downturn.
“Every check felt like a fight to get,” Gladney said. The high of this fundraising was that most of their existing investors returned. Based in Kansas, the returning capital helped make the duo two of the few, if any, Black women to raise more than $1 million in the Midwest. “As two Black women in Kansas, we’re super proud of that.”
The fresh capital will help WorkTorch expand into several new cities, including Chicago, Denver, Dallas and Atlanta.
Gladney and Muhwezi-Hall are hoping that WorkTorch becomes the go-to platform for anyone looking to see what’s next for their careers. “This is what makes us different,” Gladney said. “WorkTorch is empowering people to pursue whatever they are passionate about. And then we come alongside them to help them get there.”