Urban Company Partners: A Status Swivel on the Cards?

Abstract

The world is witnessing a rise in the game-changing service-based platforms; hence, a research-based case study on Urban Company (UC), the fastest-growing Indian start-up, has been developed using secondary sources of information. UC provides a platform for different services ranging from plumbing, electrical, cleaning to yoga, etc., and acts as a mobile marketplace. The company maintains a record of its service providers (also known as partners) and presents the list of such providers to the customers on its mobile app. This case study explores the different HR practices of the company for its full-time employees versus partners to highlight the differences in benefits available to the UC’s contract workers vis-à-vis permanent workers; also, the case discusses why and how the company might assign the status of a full-time employee to its partners. The study suggests that for sustaining its competitive position in the long run UC needs to maintain a balance between providing excellence in service and receiving continuous support of a trusted pool of professionals through providing “employee status” to its partners.