Problem

There is lack of job mobility among workers in Mexico, compared to other countries. If workers move with low frequency between jobs because of lack of information about better opportunities there could be a misallocation of resources. Job mobility allows that firms increase productivity and workers can potentially increase wages and improve their labor conditions. Besides the lack of information that does not allow to improve the match between firms and workers, there is asymmetry of information. High-income families are better suited with mechanism that allows a better job search than poor ones. Therefore, I want to make a technology that solves this problem. With this new technology, workers can increase their salary and the country as a whole could have a better reallocation of the population reducing the size of urban zones, like Mexico City. For example, after NAFTA --the most important international treaty in Mexico- economists where expecting that more unskilled and skilled workers moved to the regions that gain the most from trade (North part of Mexico). However, this did not happen, and the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers did not close as much as expected. Perhaps with this new technology that provides better information about the job market workers and firms will take advantage of the available resources, especially those regions in the North of Mexico which are more productive. On the other hand, it seems that many microentrepreneurs do not know other opportunities they have in the labor market that are relatively close to them and that could be a good match as well. If they could be reallocated to places where they are more productive, they they could increase their income, the economy in general will be more productive, and many low-skilled entrepreneurs could be reallocated to the labor market.

First Proposal

I want to design a system that allows a better match with the use of information between firms and workers or outsourcing services. The aim of this system is to decrease informality and increase job mobility.  Both firms and potential workers will use this system.

 

Step 1: Define the characteristics that I need to gather for potential workers (possibly microentrepreneurs) and firms

 

Step 2: Create a matching algorithm

 

Step 3: Design an input and output mechanism, to introduce and deliver the information.

 

Assuming that many local rural communities will not have access to smart phones, I want to design a microcontroler that allows them to introduce and receive the information.  On the other hand, I assume that some firms will have smart phones that will be able to receive and deliver information.  Therefore, I need to design a mechanisms in which micro-controlers can receive and deliver information to smart-phones.

 

Step 4: For each local community that will have this system, I would like to build a map of acrylic or wood of the community, of the state and of the country using a laser cutter.  Add LEDs to different points over the map that will show green lights whenever a good match appears, a yellow light when there is a not-so-good match and red when there is a bad match, like a stop light. In addition, I can print with a 3D printer a stop light as an additional widget for my system. In a similar way I will create this in a digital application to the cell phone.

 

The idea is to create local hubs where people can go and see available matches every week, using a code bar card.

 

Step 5:  Design an application similar to UBER o Tinder on the cell phone that allows to find the location of the worker or firm and its characteristics, and then indicating if they want to buy the service or offer the service. The same system will suggest the match.

 

Additional things to do during the process:

 

1. Apply surveys and do interviews in order to get a better insight for my users.

2. Analyze data in order to see what proportion of different populations has smart phones, according to the size of the community and income levels.