ary·JobsI’m a CEO who was raised by a truck driver and a factory worker.
The 2.7 billion shift-based workers around the world need that works for themBy Silvija MartincevicBy Silvija Martincevic Silvija Martincevic is the CEO of Deputy, a global software platform for managing hourly workers.
Previously, she was Chief Commercial Officer at Affirm, and she was Chief Operating Officer for Groupon’s operations in Europe, Australia and Asia.
She was also a CEO and co-founder of Zenna Financial Services, where she focused on impact . Silvija Martincevic. DeputyInnovation has a blind spot — and it’s not in the boardroom.
It’s behind the counter, in the clinic, and on the shop floor before sunrise.
While much of the world races toward the next big breakthrough, it’s overlooking something even bigger: the 2.7 billion people who make up the global shift-based workforce.
These are the people who clock in, not just log on.
I grew up watching two of them every day — my mother working long hours in a shoe factory, and my father driving a truck through all kinds of weather. Their work wasn’t glamorous, but it was essential.
I saw first-hand how unpredictable schedules, physical demands, and economic pressures shaped not only their jobs but also our family’s daily life.
Those experiences taught me the gap between the way nology is designed and the way most of the world actually works. This disconnect isn’t just personal — it’s systemic.
The next era of innovation shouldn’t start with code or capital. It should start with people.
When I look at how to bridge this gap, I keep coming back to Harvard fessor Clayton Christensen’s “Jobs to Be Done” theory: people hire ducts to solve real, everyday blems.
But too many solutions are still dreamed up in conference rooms, far away from the break rooms and shop floors where those blems .
Nearly 80% of the global workforce is shift-based, yet they remain largely invisible to the innovation economy.
While knowledge workers enjoy the benefits of remote tools, flexible hours, and automation, frontline industries are still grappling with burnout, staffing shortages, and unpredictable hours.
And that gap is only widening, with less than 1% of nology investment going toward the people who work on their feet.
What shadowing a barista showed me Recently, I spent a day shadowing baristas at one of our customers’ locations.
I watched how something as small as a confusing schedule or a delayed break could ripple through the day, affecting not just the worker’s mood but also the team’s energy and the customer’s experience.
Real gress requires ximity; you have to see the friction to understand it.
One barista told me, “I want to be the person who guides you through your order and gets you exactly what you want.” That’s not just coffee — it’s pride in the work.
The question for us as innovators is: Are we building systems that tect that pride or chip away at it?
Christensen’s framework offers a way forward: start with the real “job” people are hiring your duct to do. Not the imagined job in your pitch deck, but the actual one in their s.
If we applied that lens to the workforce, we’d see the blem ly: Many decision-makers have never experienced the unpredictability of shift work, the juggling of multiple jobs, or the anxiety of waiting for next week’s schedule — yet they’re designing solutions for these very challenges.
The goal shouldn’t be to replace people — it should be to make work more stable, predictable, and dignified for those whose jobs require them to be on site.
Issues unpredictable shifts and last-minute callouts aren’t just operational inefficiencies — they’re human costs.
More than 85% of hourly workers say unpredictable scheduling impacts their health and ability to plan ahead. And for many, that unpredictability also ripples into their families.
From the healthcare worker trying to arrange last-minute childcare to retail managers missing school pickup, or baristas trading shifts to care for an aging parent – these are real jobs nology must help solve if we want a society that can thrive inside and outside of work.
I’ve seen the difference when nology actually works for people: when workers can see their hours and earnings ly, swap a shift without stress, and count on a schedule that doesn’t change at the last minute.
The appetite for better solutions is : 80% of hourly workers believe digital tools would imve their performance, and 70% of frontline workers want better .
The demand is there, and so is the opportunity. My challenge to builders, investors, and innovators is this: broaden your definition of “user.” Go to the cafe at 6 a.m. Talk to a nurse on their break.
Watch a store manager handle a last-minute change from the parking lot. Listen. Then design with that reality in mind.
The same care we bring to designing for desk workers – intuitive tools, real-time insights, delight in the details — should be the baseline for the people who keep the world running.
When we start there, we don’t just make work better. We build a future of work that actually reflects how most of the world works.
Because if we’re serious shaping the future, we have to start where the work actually happens — with the real jobs to be done.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com ary pieces are solely the views of their and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world.
Explore this year's list.