The Job Search Is a Fintech Problem Now

The labor market has become a study in contradictions.

U.S. employers opened 172,000 new jobs in May, at a steady unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, according to the BLS.

But long-term unemployment (27+ weeks) has been on the rise since 2023. Anecdotally, we also continue to hear that finding a job has become markedly harder, as layoffs dominate headlines (supposedly in an AI-fueled mania, even as data time and time again reveals this doesn’t tell the full story).

We’ll be tuning in for the June BLS report next week, but today, we’re asking, what does this nuance mean for fintech?

For years, the industry focused on building better financial products. Now, the questions are becoming more fundamental, as fintech firms evaluate new forms of future-proofed moats. Does financial wellness begin with managing money, or with earning it? And if AI makes software cheaper to build, where does a fintech’s competitive advantage actually come from?

This week, we explore both sides of that equation. 

Earnings management company EarnIn, just announced the launch of Earn Better, a jobs platform designed to help workers find work faster amidst uncertainty. We asked Tuck Hauptfuhrer, VP of Product at EarnIn and former CEO and co-founder of EarnBetter (the job platform acquired by EarnIn), what he’s learned from building a financial health product that begins long before workers actually get paid.

Meanwhile, TabaPay is focused on everything that comes next, building the payment rails that let transactions move instantly and securely once they’re made. We interviewed co-founder and CEO Rodney Robinson on what creates the most staying power in a world where more businesses seem at risk of being replaced by AI.

—The Editors