When we think about the evolving employment landscape, we believe the way people work in the future will be less defined by disappearing jobs than by diminishing stability. And we’re already seeing these changes unfold. AI and automation are reshaping how work is valued, wages are failing to keep pace with inflation, and long-term, single-employer income models are becoming less common. The result is not mass unemployment, but a steady erosion of the predictability that once underpinned work.
Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sit at the center of this shift. MSMEs have long been the backbone of economic activity, accounting for more than 90 percent of businesses globally, generating roughly 70 percent of jobs, and contributing close to half of global GDP. As stability in traditional employment erodes, these MSMEs increasingly absorb labor-market pressure by sustaining existing jobs and creating new ones. Therefore, as the structure of work becomes less predictable, the role of MSMEs in supporting employment and income becomes more salient.
At the same time, the way individuals earn income is changing. As formal employment becomes less reliable, more people rely on self-employment, gig work, or informal activities to supplement or replace wages. Self-employment and small business formation are becoming more common responses to labor-market instability, with income increasingly earned through a combination of activities rather than a single, steady job.
Smoothing cash-flow uncertainty for individuals
What constrains this shift in how individuals earn income is not effort or demand, but uncertainty — most acutely experienced through cash-flow volatility. Irregular earnings, volatile hours, and limited buffers create real friction for workers navigating this new reality. Financial systems, however, largely remain built around assumptions of predictable wages and fixed pay cycles. This gap between how people earn and how financial services are structured defines a core challenge of the future of work. In response, a new generation of financial products has emerged to help individuals manage income volatility directly. These tools are designed to make irregular earnings more workable, helping people smooth consumption, absorb shocks, and remain economically active despite uncertainty.
These solutions include productive credit for practical, in-demand skills and certifications linked to earning potential; alternative credit-scoring models that rely on behavioral, transactional, or psychometric data; income-protection mechanisms that help cover gaps between pay periods; and adaptive savings tools that adjust automatically to fluctuating income. Together, they represent a shift toward financial infrastructure designed for volatility rather than stability.
Several companies solving adjacent problems demonstrate how these models could work in practice. In Kenya, Acre Africa provides farmers with Farmer Protection Cover, designed to safeguard farmers against the various risks that could jeopardize their livelihood and income. Pravaler in Brazil offers productive credit to make student loans accessible and affordable, while Prodigy Finance in the UK offers student loan financing based on future earning potential. LenddoEFL in Singapore uses psychometric and digital behavioral data to underwrite borrowers with limited credit histories, and Khazna in Egypt strengthens financial resilience for low-income workers through salary advances and microcredit. These models illustrate how financial access can be redesigned for markets defined by uncertainty.
Job creation through MSME support and entrepreneurship
While smoothing cash-flow volatility is essential at the individual level, the broader employment outlook depends on job creation. In most economies, job creation is driven not by large firms but by MSMEs and new business formation.
Fintech plays a structural role in this process by equipping MSMEs with the tools and capital to scale, while also lowering the cost and complexity of running a business through embedded payments, accounting, and compliance infrastructure. Thus, financial products designed for MSMEs can play a critical role in the creation of new jobs.
We are seeing several platforms illustrate this dynamic in practice. Nuvemshop lowers the barrier to entrepreneurship in Brazil by enabling individuals to quickly launch and operate online businesses. Sleek in Singapore simplifies company registration, compliance, and financial services for MSMEs. Apollo Agriculture in Kenya enables smallholder farmers to operate viable enterprises by bundling financing, inputs, and digital tools that raise productivity and stabilize income. Triply in Kenya is helping tourism operators and travel agent MSMEs facilitate international payments, allowing them to operate as globally connected businesses, and Konfio provides growth capital to established MSMEs in Mexico, supporting expansion, productivity investment, and job retention. These companies demonstrate how reducing friction to launch and grow a business can enhance economic growth, job creation, and financial stability.
At Accion Ventures, we believe the future of work will not be defined by a shortage of labor, but by instability in how income is earned. As uncertainty becomes a defining feature of work, economic participation increasingly depends on the ability to manage volatility.
By supporting individuals facing irregular income and enabling MSMEs to grow and hire, financial innovation plays a critical role in shaping how resilience, adaptability, and job creation emerge in an evolving labor market.
For entrepreneurs, these changes create an opportunity to design solutions adapted to financial vulnerability, evolving work patterns, and continuous economic transition. For investors, they can create an opportunity to deploy long-term capital with perspective, shaping companies as they transition from experimentation to growth in markets commonly susceptible to volatility and uncertainty. The startups that succeed will not eliminate uncertainty. Instead, they will help determine how financial stability, resilience, and adaptability materialize as the economy continues to evolve.
