Each new round of layoffs seems to deepen the same conclusion: artificial intelligence is not just changing how companies work, but how workers imagine their future. Through May 2026, employers had announced nearly 90,000 job cuts tied to AI, according to reporting from Yahoo Finance. Some projections suggest AI could eliminate as much as 15% of U.S. jobs over the next five years, intensifying concerns among workers, especially younger graduates entering a job market that already feels uncertain.
Yet a new report from Ramp and Revelio Labs adds a more nuanced layer to the debate. Drawing on enterprise AI spending data and workforce records from nearly 22,000 companies, the study suggests that firms investing aggressively in AI are not necessarily reducing staff. In many cases, they are hiring faster.
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High AI Spending, Higher Headcount
The report classifies “high-intensity adopters” as companies spending an average of $30 per employee each month on AI during the first three months of adoption. Among those businesses, headcount increased by 10.2%. Hiring expanded across engineering, sales, administration, customer service, finance, marketing and scientific roles.
The strongest growth was recorded in the information sector, which includes software, internet, media and other technology-related businesses.
AI Investment And Business Expansion
According to the report, AI can lower production costs and improve efficiency across software and technology companies by accelerating coding, debugging, internal tooling, technical documentation and product development.
The study suggests these productivity gains may allow some companies to expand operations while continuing to hire, rather than relying solely on workforce reductions.
Entry-Level Employment Shows Mixed Trends
The findings also differ from some broader labour market research.
Goldman Sachs has estimated that AI eliminated around 16,000 net jobs per month over the past year, with Gen Z workers and entry-level employees experiencing much of the impact. By contrast, Ramp and Revelio Labs found that entry-level headcount increased by 12% among high-intensity AI adopters.
The authors note, however, that the study focuses primarily on fast-growing, knowledge-based companies, many of which are backed by venture capital and were already positioned for expansion. As a result, the report does not conclude that AI itself caused the increase in hiring.
“This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs, but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses,” the authors wrote.
Adoption Patterns Differ Across Companies
According to the report, companies with greater access to capital, technical expertise and organisational resources may be better positioned to turn AI investment into business growth.
The authors caution that organisations lacking those advantages could struggle to achieve similar results. “Firms without those channels may fall behind,” they said.
