Nearly Half of Teens Interested in Being Entrepreneurs as Adults “Likely” to Use AI Instead of Hiring Employees

Survey Conducted by Junior Achievement in Support of National Entrepreneurship Month in November

(Colorado Springs, CO) – A new survey by Junior Achievement shows that nearly half of teens (47%) interested in starting a business as adults would likely use Generative AI in place of employees. Nearly three-quarters of teens surveyed (71%) responded that they would be likely to consider starting a business as an adult, down slightly from a similar survey in 2023 (76%). The survey of 1,004 teens between 13 and 17 was conducted by Big Village between October 8 – October 13, 2024. According to the Small Business Administration, of the more than 33 million small businesses in the United States, more than 81 percent of them have no employees outside of the business owner.

"At first glance, the fact that teens are looking to use AI instead of hiring employees might seem a bit concerning," said Tim Greinert, President of Junior Achievement USA. "However, most small businesses don’t have the need or ability to hire employees, so the fact that teens recognize the possibility of AI to add capacity to a business cost-effectively can be seen as a positive for a wide variety of startups."

Junior Achievement conducted the survey to coincide with National Entrepreneurship Month in November. Each year, Junior Achievement reaches more than 4.6 million students in grades K through 12, as well as young adults, with lessons that focus on entrepreneurship, work and career readiness, and financial literacy.

Other key survey findings include:

• More than one in five teens (22%) likely to start a business said their interest was sparked by a class or program at school, second only to being inspired by a social media influencer (29%).

• The top choice for business teens are interested in starting is being a social media influencer (19%), followed by running a service business, like hair care, childcare, lawn care, plumbing, etc. (12%), and owning a retail store or shop (10%).

Methodology
This Youth CARAVAN survey was conducted by Big Village among a sample of 1,004 13-17-year-olds. This survey was live on October 8 – October 13, 2024.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in online surveys and polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to multiple sources of error, including, but not limited to sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. It is nationally representative with set quotas based on census data. The 1,003 completes are all who qualified and completed based on the demographic quota requirements. The MoE is +/- 3.1%.

About Junior Achievement USA (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA learning experiences are delivered by corporate and community volunteers and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Additionally, Junior Achievement is expanding its reach to 18-to-25-year-olds to provide young adults with critical life skills, as well as to pre-K youth to ensure children get a solid head start. Today, JA reaches more than 4.6 million students per year in 99 markets across the United States as part of 12.5 million students served by operations in more than 100 other countries worldwide. Junior Achievement USA is a member of JA Worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.

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