Small Businesses That Adopted AI Are Hiring Faster, Gusto Research Finds

NewsData.io · United States · Sep 10, 2026

New Gusto research tracking 1,593 small businesses found that AI adopters grew headcount approximately 7% more than comparable non-adopters in the year following adoption. The smallest businesses (under 10 employees) saw the largest gains, hiring about 10% more than non-adopters, with healthcare and social-assistance firms growing headcount nearly 20% more. Critically for staffing professionals, the new roles were predominantly hands-on and customer-facing — cooks, care providers, technicians, and admin support — not AI-specific tech roles, suggesting AI is expanding capacity rather than replacing workers. The findings directly challenge the narrative that AI shrinks payrolls, particularly among small businesses, which represent roughly half of U.S. private-sector employment.