Blok was developed after examining current inefficiencies in the gig economy. Follow the interview with Alexander Sandrin. He is an IT professional, but for now he is gonna share with us his experience in gig economy that happened when he arrived in Sydney.
Larissa: Hi, Alexander! Could you please tell us a bit about your gig experience?
Alexander: Hello, guys! My experience in gig economy happened when I arrived in Sydney. About two years ago, I started working in food delivery. It was a good job, not too bad money and the restaurant used to have a good reputation.
Larissa: And how was your experience working on it?
Alexander: Actually, was pretty interesting. Something different of anything I had done before. Everything was going fine but, one day, the restaurant just lost one of the orders, which means that it took a long time until the customer called again asking for his order.
The guy who hung up the phone should’ve told the customer what happened, but he didn’t. He just “took the order again” and the chef quickly prepared the meal and I went to deliver the food.
Once I arrived to the customer’s address, he refused to receive the order as it took one hour and a half since the first time he called and was necessary to provide anything else to his guests.
Back to the restaurant bringing the food, they told me I wouldn’t receive the payment for that service as the customer wouldn’t pay them. From my point of view, definitely unfair, as I did my job and the customer dissatisfaction wasn’t my fault!
Larissa: That sounds unfortunate. Let me introduce you to Blok. Blok is a decentralized application which is going to revolutionize global gig economy using blockchain to remove the frictions in the on-demand workforce. It is about providing a directory of opportunities for ‘Blok-preneurs’ and once you update that the required job has been completed, you receive instant (verified) payments. How do you think it would impact you if these kind of problems could be resolved with Blok?
Alexander: I believe that a solution like Blok could´ve really helped me in that situation. Once I accepted that job, deliver the food to the desired address in the given timeframe, my job is basically completed. The restaurant would have been bound to pay me for the provided services — we would have a deal!
Blok’s Solution
By leveraging a decentralized platform, like Blok, workers will be able to see an increase in pay and lessening of structural hierarchy as the workforce democratizes. Alexander will be able to have the transparency and get paid when he has completed his side of the bargain.
In his experience, the inefficiencies and unfairness in the current solutions has him working outside of technology for gigs. Blok will have the reputation system for the blokpreneur and company, which will drive both Alexander (and people like him), and the company to be fair and transparent in their communication as the reputation will be impacted by poor reviews.
Blok simplifies and shortens the complexities of payments and ensures transparency and trust amongst groups. Time, cost, and quality frictions present in the current hierarchical model are eliminated by the use of smart contracts. Consumers, companies, and workers all benefit from Blok’s use of blockchain technology which improves efficiencies overall.
The gig economy presents a ripe opportunity for blockchain. Our ICO is currently ongoing and have the opportunity to directly impact the future of the on-demand workforce.
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Author: Larissa, Community at Blok
Business and Channel Developer; Marketing specialist and Communications background. IT enthusiast!
