The argument over whether artificial intelligence destroys or creates jobs has produced a new data point that complicates both sides. A study by finance platform Ramp and workforce analytics firm Revelio Labs found that companies spending heavily on AI are expanding their workforces, including at the entry level.
The report analyzed nearly 22,000 companies using enterprise AI spending data matched against workforce records. Firms classified as “high-intensity adopters” — those spending an average of US$30 (approximately AGBP24) per employee per month on AI tools within their first three months — saw headcount increase 10.2 percent. Among those same firms, entry-level headcount rose 12 percent, directly countering the widespread assumption that AI automation eliminates junior roles first.
The strongest job growth was in the information sector, which includes software, internet, media and tech-adjacent firms. Headcount rose across engineering, sales, administration, customer service, finance, marketing and scientist roles.
The finding challenges the prevailing narrative that AI primarily displaces workers. Through May 2026, companies had announced close to 90,000 AI-related job cuts, and Goldman Sachs data had shown AI erasing roughly 16,000 net jobs per month, with Gen Z and entry-level workers hit hardest. Boston Consulting Group has projected that up to 15 percent of US jobs could be eliminated by AI within five years.
The report’s authors caution that the data skews toward tech-forward, venture capital-backed, fast-growing firms, making it difficult to determine whether AI directly drives hiring or simply correlates with company expansion. Firms that only experiment with AI — buying subscriptions and running pilots without sustained investment — saw no headcount gains.
The paper suggests AI may function as a tool for firm expansion. For software and technology companies, AI can make core output cheaper or faster to produce: writing code, debugging, building internal tools and producing technical documentation. Lower production costs in these workflows can raise the return on expanding the entire firm, not just the engineering team.
The risk is a widening gap between AI “haves” and “have-nots.” Companies with existing resources — capital, technical staff, founder networks and management bandwidth — are best positioned to turn AI adoption into business gains. “Firms without those channels may fall behind,” the report concludes.
Sources: The AI jobs debate just got messier (TechCrunch, June 29, 2026); AI Adoption Spurs Hiring Surge: Entry-Level Roles Grow 12% (AI Herald, June 30, 2026)