Careerminds<\/a>.<\/p>\nResearchers combined survey results with employment statistics and estimates of the share of employees working for small and midsize businesses. The Pennsylvania figure represents an extrapolation rather than a direct count of workers facing layoffs or replacement.<\/p>\n
Nationally, 58% of surveyed business owners indicated that AI could perform a meaningful portion of the work handled by at least one employee.<\/p>\n
Despite that exposure, 61% reported delaying AI adoption because of potential consequences for employees, while 59% indicated they had rejected a specific AI tool over concerns that it could eliminate jobs.<\/p>\n
Loyalty was the most frequently cited reason for retaining an employee whose work could be automated, identified by 33% of respondents.<\/p>\n
Another 17% cited an employee\u2019s length of service, while 13% pointed to specialized knowledge of the business. Personal responsibility for an employee\u2019s financial well-being and the value of customer relationships were each cited by 12%.<\/p>\n
Owners were divided over how long they would retain an employee if AI could perform most of that person\u2019s work more cheaply.<\/p>\n
Twenty-four percent indicated they would continue employing the person for six to 12 months, while 18% would retain the employee for less than six months and another 18% for one to two years.<\/p>\n
A combined 33% indicated they would retain the worker indefinitely or for as long as the business could afford it.<\/p>\n
Long-serving employees were the group owners felt most reluctant to replace, cited by 28% of respondents. Employees nearing retirement followed at 22%, while workers supporting families or dependents accounted for 20%.<\/p>\n
Another 15% identified employees who helped establish the business, followed by workers with strong customer relationships at 9% and those with specialized company knowledge at 6%.<\/p>\n
Three-quarters of respondents indicated that small-business owners have a greater personal responsibility toward their employees than large corporations when making decisions about AI.<\/p>\n
Forty-seven percent maintained that employers should protect jobs whenever reasonably possible, while 31% favored protecting positions even when doing so reduces profits. Fifteen percent prioritized business survival, and 7% supported adopting AI whenever it offers a financial benefit.<\/p>\n
Despite those reservations, 56% expect AI to reduce their company\u2019s workforce within three years. Sixty-two percent reported having discussed the potential effects of AI with employees.<\/p>\n
Amanda Augustine, a career expert at Careerminds, argued that employers should use the period before automation becomes unavoidable to retrain workers and adjust responsibilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than waiting until the economics force their hand, small-business owners can use this time to identify opportunities to reskill employees, shift responsibilities, and help people develop the skills they\u2019ll need to work alongside AI,\u201d Augustine stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtecting employees doesn\u2019t have to mean protecting every job exactly as it exists today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources\u2014free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PENNSYLVANIA \u2014 Approximately 1.63 million Pennsylvania small-business employees work in roles where their employers believe artificial intelligence could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1609,39242,59,28,30,29,3232,114053],"class_list":["post-270596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-automation","tag-labor","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-workplace","tag-workplace-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}