MILAN -- The innovative app 'Taskhunters' allows Italian students in need of pocket money to earn cash in return for daily routine chores.

 A whopping 40 percent of Italian university students juggle a part time job alongside their studies. For some, this is a necessary sacrifice of free time in order to afford the rise in fees due to the difficult economic situation. Others merely aim for independence from family life, considering 73 percent still live with their parents and only 24 percent study outside of their home-city, according to ‘Eurostudent’ statistics.

 With the aim of satisfying this high demand for flexible work, the original ‘Taskhunters’ app provides a handy alternative to typical employment contracts. After experiencing the world of work abroad within large multinational companies, a group of five young Italians -- Lorenzo Teodori, Francesco Piovesan, Marco Premier, Alberto Mora and Jessy Conroy -- set up a job search platform with a twist.

 How does it work? Individuals can post a ‘task’ to be completed on the smartphone app, along with the price they are willing to pay and any required conditions. Students then offer their services, negotiating with the initial price if they feel necessary. The appropriate candidate is then chosen from the bunch, completes the task and, providing both parties are satisfied, is subsequently paid through the online secure payment system ‘Stripe.’

 There is also a mutual evaluation system through the use of ratings, allowing the app-user to build up a good reputation for further tasks within the marketplace.

 Examples of tasks include -- personal shopping, pet care, household chores, trips to the supermarket and even private music lessons. The application is free through IOS. The project aims to be widely available on a national scale by 2017.

 To learn more, watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQgUIuzOZ-w

 sw