Despite massive AI push, over 90% firms see no impact on jobs or output: Survey

Despite the global corporate push to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) for cost-cutting and improved profitability, a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) suggests the technology’s immediate impact has been limited. After surveying nearly 6,000 top executives across the US, UK, Germany and Australia, researchers found that more than 90 per cent of firms reported no change in employment or productivity over the past three years.

Two-thirds of the executives said their companies are using AI, but the average usage remains low at just 1.5 hours per week. Around 25 per cent of respondents said AI is not being used in their workplace at all.

"On average, more than 90 per cent of business managers across the four countries estimate no impact of AI on their employment over the past three years. 89 per cent report no impact of AI on their labour productivity (measured as volume of sales per employee) over the last three years," the study highlighted.


Despite the limited short-term impact, firms remain optimistic about AI’s future role in workplaces. Executives expect productivity to increase by 1.4 per cent and output to rise by 0.8 per cent over the next three years. Nearly 75 per cent of businesses anticipate adopting some form of AI technology within this period.

"Given over 250 million people in employment over these four countries, firm executives therefore expect AI will lead to about 1.75 million fewer jobs by 2028 at existing firms," the study stated.

At present, the most widely cited applications of AI include text generation using large language models, followed by visual content creation and data processing through machine learning.

This is not the first study to question AI’s immediate productivity gains. A report published last year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that 95 per cent of organisations that implemented AI systems saw no return on their investment.

"Despite $30-40 billion in enterprise investment into GenAI, this report uncovers a surprising result in that 95 per cent of organisations are getting zero return," the report titled *The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025* highlighted.

The MIT study examined 300 AI deployments and involved interviews with around 350 employees. AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot were among the most widely adopted. However, only five per cent of integrated AI pilots are extracting significant financial value, while the majority remain stuck with no measurable profit and loss (P&L) impact.