In May, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found that 66% of the businesses it surveyed were using artificial intelligence; 26% more than two years earlier.
The Fed said that is good and bad, because AI increases worker productivity, but it may also reduce the demand for certain types of labor.
Greg Procell, vice president and general manager of the local Manpower staffing office, said he is seeing the AI impact firsthand.
“Where we used to have production line workers all over the place, now, it’s being done by machines,” said Procell. He said he believes the quick adoption of AI has been influenced by the difficulty in finding people to fill the jobs.
Production line work is generally routine, repetitive and standardized, as well as jobs such as insurance claims processing, basic accounting and bookkeeping, medical billing and coding, civil land survey drafting and paralegal work.
“Entry operators, anything to do with just pure worksheets, spreadsheets … those type of positions have decreased in our area quite a bit,” he said.
Procell has been part of the Dallas Fed’s business outlook committee since 1995 and shares what he sees in the local job market every six weeks.
One of the Fed findings is that recent college graduates in Texas have been unable to find jobs in their field of study and it has prompted current students to change their educational decisions.
Procell said he has also been encouraging students to reconsider their educational plans.
“We tell them they need to expand their field, because those type of jobs, almost guaranteed in three to five years, there’s not going to be a need for them. We try to coach them into going into broader things, for their own sake,” he said.
According to Fed data, job postings in “more exposed positions” fell by 8% in the first quarter of 2025. The Fed’s May 2026 Business Outlook Survey reported a list of tasks and jobs that manufacturing and service sector businesses were replacing with AI.
On the flip side, Procell said there are trades and skills that are in big demand and should continue to be.
Recent college graduates are the most exposed to the shift in skills.
“Because the types of jobs posted online typically require little prior work experience, a decline in job postings is likely to disproportionately affect new labor market entrants,” concluded the Fed.
There is also the issue of changing demographics.
“As the baby boomers start to leave the workforce, which is a great deal of people, and the younger folks start to come in, the numbers just aren’t there (to fill the jobs). So companies do have to modernize their techniques and what they do,” Procell said. That could encourage or speed the adoption of AI.
He said businesses are also having to deal with the reality that younger job seekers want more flexibility. He said the four-day workweek is becoming more common, even in the worldwide Manpower group.
Shreveport’s Frymaster has also made a change to accommodate. The Line Avenue manufacturer, which makes deep fryers used by restaurant chains such as Taco Bell, Popeyes and Raising Cane’s, is pushing the start of their 5 a.m. shift to 6 a.m., said Director of Operations Kathryn Childs. That helps younger workers who were having a hard time getting to work on time.
“Our skilled workforce is still going to maintain the 5 a.m. start time though,” she said.
Procell said some younger workers have also opted out of more traditional jobs completely and have found ways to make money on the internet.
“Things are changing, the mindset, and we’re not going to change it. It’s going farther and farther in that direction,” he said.