Mauricio Pintado, a graduate of ORT’s Specialization Diploma in Human Resources, spoke about the business and social impact of the startup he co-leads, which is incubated at the CIE.
The main goals of Zafrales—a startup co-founded by Mauricio Pintado and launched through the university’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE)—are to streamline the recruitment process for companies and provide job opportunities for workers.
Zafrales is an app designed to streamline the hiring of seasonal or temporary staff.
What do you think is the impact of Zafrales?
Zafrales has a significant impact on both companies and workers.
From a business perspective, the app streamlines the hiring process and allows companies to focus on what really matters: production. Our clients don’t have to worry about finding workers or dealing with paperwork; they can simply focus on producing more and better. We offer an overnight seasonal hiring service for operational staff, which is essential for many companies during peak production periods.
From the workers’ perspective, we are offering new job opportunities. We are providing access to job openings for a largely vulnerable segment of the population—low-income families—who, through Zafrales, gain access to more employment opportunities. In addition, we have a significant impact on creating jobs for women. By 2023, we aim for 50% of those hired at Zafrales to be women. We create more opportunities, formalize employment, and provide legal advice to workers.
What results are they seeing?
We are currently experiencing annual revenue growth of around 100%, and the trend for 2023 is expected to be significantly higher. We estimate growth of 300%. We work with major companies that adhere to international standards and maintain high quality standards in human resources, such as Montes del Plata, Grupo Marfrig, and Establecimiento Juanicó, among others.
We're ending the year with a nearly 400% increase in new customers. And in a few months, we expect to begin operations in Argentina.
In 2022, Zafrales secured a $700,000 loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to promote technological workplace tools for workers.
The IDB loan is a co-investment: for every dollar the bank provides, Zafrales contributes $1.50, to be disbursed over 30 months.
What changes are you addressing?
The most significant transformation is the digitization of the staffing sector. We are driving a major transformation in the processes for hiring temporary staff.
On a macro level, I believe that Zafrales is making employment more accessible in Uruguay and will continue to do so on a regional level, reaching many people who are currently unaware that job opportunities are available right in their own backyard.
How has your training in the Specialization Diploma in HR helped you?
The graduate program marked a radical shift in how I understood human resources. It allowed me to apply all that knowledge to my work—initially in the agricultural sector—validate it, and apply it to other areas of human resources. I gained an understanding of each stage and process, as well as the key factors needed to make the hiring process efficient while maintaining high-quality standards.
It also gave me access to the CIE, where Zafrales got its start. That’s where the business idea was conceived, where we went through the pre-incubation phase, and where this whole adventure began, thanks to the tremendous support we received from Enrique Topolansky. We wouldn’t be where we are today if I hadn’t first completed my graduate studies and then gone through the CIE.