Despite all the noise about an automation and A.I. driven jobless future, small business owners are mostly positive about automation technology.
They're even positive about how automation technology will impact their firm's staffing levels.
Intuit and Emergent Research (that's us) recently conducted a survey asking small business owners their views on the impact automation technology will have on their business over the next 5 years.
90% of SMB owners said automation technology will result in their firm either increasing (31%) or maintaining (59%) their staffing levels.
Only 10% of SMB owners surveyed said automation technology would lead them to reduce staff. And only 1% said they expect it to lead them to reduce staff significantly.
As the chart below shows, most SMB owners also see automation technology as having a positive impact on their business. Few see it having a negative impact.
Most small business owners also think automation technology will improve their lives.
This survey, which is part of a broader deep dive on how automation technology is impacting small businesses, only asked the respondents to look out 5 years.
But based on interviews, the answers would have been the same if we asked the respondents to look out a decade or more.
This doesn't mean automation technology and/or A.I. won't in the long run have a negative impact on overall employment.
But it does indicate the fears of automation replacing a large share of jobs over the next decade are likely overblown.
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