Small businesses link AI to hiring more often than job cuts, Chamber research finds

Small businesses are more likely to credit AI with adding employees than cutting them, according to U.S. Chamber of Commerce research. Forty-seven percent of surveyed businesses said AI helped them add staff, compared with 6% reporting reductions. The findings describe employers’ experiences—not proof that adopting AI caused their businesses to grow.

KSWO published comments about the research on October 23, 2026, from Jordan Crenshaw, senior vice president at the Chamber’s Technology Engagement Center. He argued that AI helps small businesses remove inefficiencies and spend more time on products, services and customer relationships.

Hiring growth is not the same as AI-created jobs

Crenshaw told WBBJ that 90% of AI-using small businesses increased hiring in the previous year. That measures something different from hiring attributed to AI: a business can use the technology and hire more people without identifying it as the reason.

The percentages also count businesses, not individual jobs. They do not calculate a net employment gain by subtracting workers lost from workers hired.

The efficiency argument, from marketing to coffee bags

The research found that two-thirds of small businesses use AI. Crenshaw said owners often turn to it for behind-the-scenes tasks they struggle to fit into the working day, with less time and fewer resources than larger competitors.

He offered a coffee-shop owner’s experience as an example. The owner told him AI reduced website marketing and advertising development time by about 70%. Crenshaw also said the owner used ChatGPT to develop a coffee bagger, cutting bagging time during the Christmas rush by more than half.

Crenshaw said more than 80% of AI-using small businesses grew sales over the previous year. In Oklahoma, 94% experienced workforce growth over that period, he said.

The Chamber connects growth to regulatory certainty

Crenshaw said about three-quarters of small businesses worry losing access to AI would hurt growth. He connected that concern to overregulation and a patchwork of state laws.

In Tennessee, three-quarters expressed concern about losing AI access, he said. In Oklahoma, 59% worried about out-of-state compliance and litigation. These responses measure owners’ concerns, not demonstrated restrictions on their businesses.

Crenshaw urged policymakers to establish a single national framework so smaller companies do not fall behind larger rivals on compliance. That is the Chamber’s policy recommendation, not a conclusion established by the employment figures.