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Market position

The company describes itself as the operator of a spot-work service with the largest cumulative number of adopting companies in its category, citing a 2021 desk-and-interview survey of ten spot-work apps, and cites a 2026 market survey by the Japan Marketing Research Organization in claiming 14.2 million users. Named similar services include Sharefull, Spot Baitoru and Mercari Hallo. Its listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market and multiple industry awards — including Ruby biz Grand prix 2024 Grand Prize, a Great Entrepreneur Award category first place, the 28th Food Service Industry Contribution Award, Gaishoku Award 2024 and an Excellence Award at the 5th Japan Service Awards — position it as an established player in Japan's short-term staffing market.

Distinguishing features include no interview, résumé or screening step before a job is confirmed (including same-day postings), confirmation of pay immediately at checkout and same-day bank transfer with unlimited fee-free withdrawals, patented QR-code-based contracting and attendance management, worker-visible employer ratings, and a badge system that converts accumulated work history into access to higher-paying assignments — extended into permanent placement via Timee Career Plus. Wikipedia notes the service has a particularly high volume of restaurant listings relative to competitors.

Technology

A mobile-first matching platform on iOS and Android in which employers specify required hours and skills and suitable workers are matched automatically. QR-code scanning at the workplace handles conclusion of the employment contract and attendance tracking, a mechanism for which the company obtained a patent in April 2020, and it triggers immediate confirmation of pay for same-day transfer. A real-time transfer capability was built with Seven Bank from June 2019. Additional platform features include employer reviews, a badge system that records employer-approved tasks and skills, and an alumni function allowing employers to re-engage past workers.

Go-to-market

Consumer acquisition runs through the iOS and Android apps, the timee.co.jp site, owned media and job-feature content, and mass marketing including a TV commercial campaign launched in November 2019 featuring Kanna Hashimoto, sports sponsorship (an FC Tokyo club sponsorship signed in January 2023) and limited-edition "rare" job campaigns tied to TV programmes, festivals and events. Employer acquisition is handled by a Tokyo headquarters plus regional branches (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hoku-shinetsu, Tokai, Kansai, Chugoku-Shikoku, Kyushu), supported by partnerships with prefectures and municipalities such as Gunma, Yamagata, Gero City, Otaru City and Nagano Prefecture.

On the supply side, individuals aged 18 and over across all age bands — students, company employees, part-timers, homemakers, self-employed and freelance workers — using spare hours of a few hours per day or a few days per month. On the demand side, employers in food service, logistics, retail, hotels, cleaning, nursing care, moving, childcare, delivery, events and office work, plus later additions such as rental cars and agriculture; local governments and regional businesses also contract with the company.

Geography

Operations are Japan-only, with service available in all prefectures. The head office is on the 35th floor of Shiodome City Center in Higashi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, following earlier offices in Toshima-ku (Higashi-Ikebukuro, Hareza Tower) from July 2020 and an expanded move to Shiodome in March 2023. Regional branches operate in Sapporo (Hokkaido), Sendai (Tohoku), Kanazawa (Hoku-shinetsu), Nagoya (Tokai), Osaka (Kansai), Hiroshima (Chugoku-Shikoku) and Fukuoka (Kyushu).

History

Timee, Inc. was established in August 2017, and the Timee app launched on iOS on 2 August 2018 with an initial JPY 300 million raise announced on 10 August 2018 from investors including the Fujita Fund. In 2019 the company launched the "Tada-tabi" beta that became Timee Travel, partnered with Seven Bank for real-time transfers, released the Android app, and raised JPY 2 billion in a Series B. A QR-code contracting and attendance patent was granted in April 2020, a delivery service was launched and later closed, the head office moved to Ikebukuro, and a JPY 1.34 billion Series C closed in September 2020. The Gig Work Institute was set up in February 2021 (renamed Spot Work Institute in November 2021) and a JPY 5.3 billion Series D closed in September 2021. A JPY 18.3 billion raise followed in November 2022 and a JPY 13 billion commitment-line financing in September 2023, alongside cumulative worker milestones and prefectural and municipal partnerships. In February 2024 four major logistics companies took equity stakes and Timee Career Plus launched; the company listed on the TSE Growth Market on 26 July 2024. In August 2025 it announced the acquisition of Sukima Works, operator of the single-shift job matching site Sukima Works, and during 2026 announced partnerships with Zeals, Hibiya-Kadan and a Nagano Prefecture nursing-care support programme.

Risks & controversies

Wikipedia documents several issues. Timee was named on social media as one of the job media used to recruit workers in connection with the 2020–2021 forged-signature scandal around the recall petition against Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura, and the company issued an apology statement. In November 2024 a high-paying late-night job posting asking workers to search for a cat drew accusations of being a criminal "dark job" and criticism that posting and employer vetting were too lax; the company removed the listing, apologised and asked users to report suspicious postings, and in December 2024 announced measures to strengthen job-content checks and worker personal-data protection. On 21 June 2025 a worker recruited via Timee by a subcontractor of JR Chiba Railway Service fell ill while cleaning stabled rail cars at JR East's Makuhari depot and died on 24 June; the Chiba Labour Standards Inspection Office is investigating causation. Reports also describe recurring unpaid-wage problems arising from early dismissal from shifts, last-minute cancellations and pre-start work; the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issued a July 2025 notice to labour bureaus about spot-work wage-nonpayment complaints, and in April 2026 Shukan Bunshun reported that nine users alleging more than 130 instances of non-payment were preparing a class action against the company.