Pontypridd-based miFuture wants to mobilise 100,000 young Welsh people towards employability and prosperity
“Think of it as the Tinder for careers,” says the founder of miFuture Gemma Hallett, 38, a former rugby player and PE teacher. miFuture is an app geared towards those school leavers who do not want to go down the university path, instead wanting to find jobs and apprenticeships.
During her pastoral role at Coleg y Cymoedd in Ystrad Mynach, Gemma realised that the alternative to UCAS was not good enough, meaning that those who didn’t want to go into university were left in limbo. She says the process hasn’t moved on since she was in school herself.
Working closely with 2,500 school leavers over a four-year period, the response was clear – “Can’t we just do this on our phones?”.
miFuture hopes to stand out amongst the current processes in schools and colleges, by letting young people access opportunities in a familiar way, swiping left and right on a mobile app.
The idea came from the students themselves, says Gemma. “Why does it need to be harder than that?”, she added.
Statistics show that the proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) slightly increased in the most recent year. Concerning 19 to 24-year-olds, Wales consistently ranks highest amongst UK nations for those who are NEET.
Gemma says that the current government approach to tackle youth unemployment isn’t providing what Generation Z want. “Everything has to be mobile driven”, she added.
Gemma also stated that she absolutely wants to work with partners and organisations to help disabled young people in their future careers.
Only a team of three, miFuture’s focus remains Welsh but hopes to develop nationally, even globally, whether this be organically or through investment. After winning a Wales Start Up award last month, Gemma said “people have congratulated me – it really validates what you are doing.”
miFuture is available to download for free on the App Store and Google Play.
