Morehands.
A new U.S. Chamber of Commerce report says small businesses are about eight times more likely to say AI helped them hire than to say it cut jobs. In the trades, the reason is simple. The office was the bottleneck.
The loudest story about AI is that it is coming for jobs.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked small businesses what is actually happening. In its 2026 Empowering Small Business report, 47% said AI has helped them add employees. 6% said it reduced their staff.
That makes small businesses about eight times more likely to say AI helped them hire than to say it cost a job.
In the trades, that tracks.
The office was the bottleneck
Ask a roofing, HVAC or plumbing owner what limits growth and you rarely hear "not enough work." You hear about the call that came in at 9 p.m. and nobody answered. The estimate that took four days to go out. The invoice nobody chased.
The field can take more jobs. The office can't keep up with selling and scheduling them.
That is the second job every trade owner works. The paperwork at the kitchen table after the trucks come home.
When the office stops being the bottleneck, the business can sell more work. More work needs more hands.
What AI actually takes over
In a trade business, the first things AI should do are the jobs nobody wants and everybody forgets.
The lead that comes in after hours gets an answer in minutes instead of the next morning. The estimate goes out the same day the measurements come in. The homeowner gets a reminder before the crew shows up. The unpaid invoice gets a polite nudge on day seven, day fourteen and day thirty without anyone remembering to send it.
None of that is on the roof. None of it replaces the person who installs the unit or runs the wire.
What the office job becomes
I won't pretend nothing changes. The person who used to spend the afternoon retyping a lead into three different tools has a different job now.
That job is better. Talking to the homeowner who is upset. Catching the estimate that looks wrong. Deciding which follow-up should come from a real voice. The work that needs judgment stays with a person, and the retyping goes away.
But that shift doesn't happen by itself. People need to be taught how to talk to AI and when not to trust it. That is why every SayDoo customer's team gets trained, not just a login.
A reason for optimism, and a warning
The Chamber's Jordan Crenshaw called the report "a reason for optimism." I agree. The same report also found owners worried about state rules and lawsuits, and he said the next challenge is making sure small businesses have a voice in how AI gets regulated.
That part matters. The rules written for AI over the next few years will mostly be written by and for very large companies. The roofer, the HVAC shop and the electrician should be in that room.
The numbers say AI is helping small businesses grow. Let's make sure the people doing the work get to keep the gains.
Quick answers
Is AI creating or cutting jobs at small businesses?
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 2026 Empowering Small Business report found 47% of small businesses say AI has helped them add employees, while 6% say it reduced staffing, making them about eight times more likely to report AI-driven job creation than job losses.
Will AI replace jobs in the trades?
The work in the field still needs people. What AI takes over first is the office work around it: answering leads after hours, sending estimates, scheduling and following up on invoices. That frees owners to sell and run more jobs, which needs more crews.
What happens to office staff when a trade business uses AI?
The job shifts from retyping and chasing to handling the conversations that need a person. Teams need training to make that shift, which is why we teach every SayDoo customer's team to use the AI, not just install it.
Sources
Shawn Keding is the co-founder and CEO of SayDoo, an AI console for trade businesses, built inside a working roofing company in North Carolina.