Gusto Research Links Small Business AI Adoption to Faster Hiring

September 10, 2026
Small businesses that adopted AI increased their headcounts about 7% more than comparable businesses that did not adopt it, according to Gusto research.

Gusto said in a press release that small businesses adopting AI increased their headcounts about 7% more than comparable businesses that did not adopt it during the following year. The hiring gap grew from about 4.5% to 6.8% by the end of the fourth quarter.

Businesses with fewer than 10 employees recorded about 10% greater headcount growth. Health care and social assistance businesses with fewer than 10 employees grew nearly 20% more than comparable businesses that had not adopted AI.

The comparison is between businesses that chose to adopt AI and businesses that knew about it and chose not to, so the result measures the two groups as much as the tools. Firms that take on new software early tend to differ from those that hold off, in growth plans and in appetite for change, and those differences would show up in hiring with or without AI.

New hires were mainly customer facing and hands on workers, including care providers, teachers, technicians, cooks, and administrative staff. The research analyzed payroll data from 1,593 businesses that adopted AI and 669 businesses that knew about AI but had not adopted it.

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