Purpose To mitigate uncertainties in the labour market, it has been argued that technology diffusion in entrepreneurship drive is essential to increase employment capacity. Against this backdrop, this study examined how social entrepreneurship and technology diffusion impact future employment in Nigeria. In addition, this study aims to contribute to the policy dialogue for the realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of decent work and economic growth (SDG-8) and industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG-9). Design/methodology/approach The data from the youth entrepreneurship with innovation (YouWiN) baseline survey was used. The study applied propensity score matching to achieve its objectives. This study defines social entrepreneurship as firms established solely to create social values. Similarly, technology diffusion is captured by the firm’s ownership of a website and communication with clients through email, while future employment is captured by the estimated number of people the business may employ in the next five years, if still in operation. Findings The results from the study show that social entrepreneurship and technology diffusion has a significant impact on future employment. The result implies that social entrepreneurship may contribute approximately 21% to the employment level in the future. Similarly, technology diffusion – ownership of a website and communication with clients through email increase the firm’s ability to contribute to future employment by 65% and 71%, respectively. Research limitations/implications One of the limitations of the research is that the study is quantitative in nature. Thus, qualitative information that could have added additional value to the study was not considered. As a recommendation, further studies should consider using a mixed method by adding qualitative information while examining the concept of social entrepreneurship and employment. Practical implications These findings suggest that ownership of a website, communicating with clients via email and involvement in social entrepreneurship contribute significantly to future employment in Nigeria. This finding shows that social entrepreneurship is crucial for reducing future employment uncertainties. Social enterprises will enhance the capacity of the economy to attain sustainable economic development. Therefore, the study concludes by recommending that policies to enhance social entrepreneurship awareness and promotion should be implanted to expand the knowledge of social enterprise as a unique business entity that drives employment. Social implications These findings suggest that ownership of a website, communicating with clients via email and involvement in social entrepreneurship contribute significantly to future employment in Nigeria. This finding shows that social entrepreneurship is crucial for reducing future employment uncertainties. Social enterprises will enhance the capacity of the economy to attain sustainable economic development. Therefore, the study concludes by recommending that policies to enhance social entrepreneurship awareness and promotion should be implanted to expand the knowledge of social enterprise as a unique business entity that drives employment. Originality/value Though prior studies have examined the contribution of entrepreneurship to employment; however, integration of technology diffusion in the concept of social entrepreneurship and employment literature is relatively sparse. Therefore, this study fills this gap by investigating how the diffusion of technology by social entrepreneurs impacts future employment in Nigeria.

BackgroundTo cater for the growing global population, the future of employment has been policy discourse. This is mainly because, as the population increases, the demand for employment increases. The danger of a looming crisis may be inevitable if considerable employment opportunities are not created to match population growth. In order to curtail uncertainty in the labour market and secure future employment, increased emphasise is laid on entrepreneurship – the skills to match new ideas to market and societal needs.Aim and DataThis study examines the extent of social entrepreneurship and its impact on future employment in Nigeria by testing the hypothesis stated in a null from as “social entrepreneurship has no significant impact on future employment in Nigeria”. The study utilises data sourced from youth entrepreneurship with innovation (YouWiN) (2019) conducted by the World Bank in conjunction with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria.MethodThe study engaged descriptive statistics to estimate logit regression and propensity score matching (PSM) to achieve its objective.ResultThe descriptive statistics show that only 3.15 per cent of entrepreneurship in Nigeria is a social enterprise. In addition, the mean age of business owners is about 31 years, with 83.14 per cent being male. The result from the logit regression shows that ICT utilisation, access to loans, level of education, and gender of business owners are other significant and positive determinants of future employment. The result from the PSM shows that social entrepreneurship is a significant and positive driver of future employment. It shows that social entrepreneurship will contribute not less than 21 per cent to employment in Nigeria in the next five years.ConclusionFrom the analysis, it was revealed that only 3.15 per cent of Nigerian enterprises are social enterprises, which is a possible reason for their little current contribution to present and future employment. More involvement in this sector is capable of improving future employment. In addition, to attain a boost in future employment creation in Nigeria, there has to be a significant contribution in this sector by the youth. In addition, access to ICT by business owners should be enhanced to improve business performance towards contributing to future employment. The government should adopt measures to aid business owners in securing loans to finance business activities and improve their performance.

As the global economy continues to recover from COVID-19 shocks, slower growth and not enough jobs to commensurate the growing labour force are observed. In line with SGD-8, promoting decent work, sustainable economic growth, higher levels of productivity and technological innovation, this study argues that encouraging entrepreneurship for job creation is key to securing future employment. The study applied the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to carry out the impact analysis. In addition, the study employed the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) to determine the linear relationship between entrepreneurship innovation and future employment. The study used the Youth Enterprise with Innovation (YouWiN) baseline survey (2019). The study engaged four innovation measures: the introduction of new products and services, access to the internet, utilisation of emails for marketing and firm's involvement in online advertisement. The PSM analysis results show that the four measures of innovation by firms have a positive and significant impact on future employment. Based on the results, the study concludes by recommending that various measures of innovation should be adopted in enterprises' activities to drive future employment.

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