Are AI layoffs the whole story? Small firms that adopted AI grew headcount about 7% faster than those that did not

Gusto compared payroll records for 1,593 small businesses that adopted AI against 669 that were aware of it but had not, and found the adopters grew headcount about 7% more over the year that followed, with the gap widening from roughly 4.5% to 6.8% by the fourth quarter. The effect was largest at the smallest firms: businesses with fewer than 10 employees grew teams about 10% more than comparable non-adopters, roughly one extra hire a year. Health care and social assistance led every sector, where practices under 10 staff - dental offices, mental health clinics - grew nearly 20% more. The new roles were hands-on and customer-facing: teachers, technicians, cooks, dental hygienists, therapists, front-desk and admin support. Senior economist Nich Tremper said AI "may be shifting their work back to their expertise, and supporting a business's productivity." No employer in the study attributed any job loss to AI, so this is not counted as an AI job loss.