[DigitalToday reporter Choi Jae-won (최재원)] A survey found that as AI adoption spreads rapidly, companies are more inclined to retrain existing employees or hire staff needed to use AI than to carry out mass layoffs.

TechRadar reported on Tuesday that the New York Federal Reserve Bank surveyed companies in New York and northern New Jersey on AI's impact on employment. Among service companies that used AI over the past six months, 4 percent said they laid off employees because of AI. In manufacturing, no AI-related layoffs were reported in surveys conducted last year and this year.

AI adoption itself has risen quickly. The AI usage rate among service companies climbed to 61 percent this year from 25 percent in 2024 and 40 percent in 2025. In manufacturing, it surged to 51 percent this year from 16 percent and 26 percent over the same period. Still, 75 percent of service companies and more than 90 percent of manufacturers that adopted AI rated their investment as minimal or moderate.

The impact on hiring was mixed. About 15 percent of service companies said they hired less than initially planned because of AI, slightly higher than last year at 12 percent. By contrast, 13 percent said they added staff to use AI. In manufacturing, no respondents said this year that they increased hiring because of AI.

The most notable change was reskilling rather than layoffs. Among companies using AI, more than one-third in services and more than 20 percent in manufacturing provided AI training to existing staff. Training included how to use tools such as chatbots, automating repetitive tasks, writing prompts, verifying AI outputs and security education. The New York Fed said existing workers were far more likely to be retrained than replaced by AI.

It is still too early to conclude there is no employment shock from AI. Some surveyed companies are cutting new hiring, and the scope of AI use and investment levels remain limited. The New York Fed said that so far AI has been changing work methods and required skills rather than removing jobs on a large scale, but that pattern could change as the technology matures.