{"id":543325,"date":"2026-08-11T14:44:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T12:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silicon-saxony.de\/bitkom-one-in-four-startups-has-put-new-hires-on-hold-because-of-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:44:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T12:44:50","slug":"bitkom-one-in-four-startups-has-put-new-hires-on-hold-because-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silicon-saxony.de\/en\/bitkom-one-in-four-startups-has-put-new-hires-on-hold-because-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitkom: One in four startups has put new hires on hold\u2014because of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 25%;\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.pblzr.de\/dacbb27c-1270-4041-b681-e2b95f06f8a1\/2026\/08\/bitkom-logo-400x300_3_TEXT.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;AI makes many office tasks\u2014and software development in particular\u2014more efficient. Startups are, on the one hand, technological pioneers and, on the other hand, particularly reliant on deploying their employees as efficiently as possible,&#8221; says Bitkom President Dr. Ralf Wintergerst.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\">6 out of 10 startups expect employee numbers to rise by 2026<\/h3>\n<p>On average, startups currently have 12 employees and one open position. A year ago, the average was 13 employees; in 2024, it was even 15. This year, 6 out of 10 startups (62 percent) expect their headcount to rise, by an average of 4 additional employees. Only 6 percent plan to cut jobs, while 26 percent expect no change. Over the next twelve months, AI will have no impact on staffing needs at roughly half of all startups (47 percent); 7 percent are still unsure or declined to comment. Only 2 percent of startups plan to cut jobs due to AI; in just over one in four (28 percent), new hires will be postponed because of AI\u2014but in nearly one in five (19 percent), additional staff will be hired due to the use of AI.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"\">Methodology Note<\/h3>\n<p>The data is based on a survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital association Bitkom. A total of 102 tech startups from Germany were surveyed online. The survey took place between calendar weeks 21 and 27 of 2026. The survey is not representative of the general population but provides a meaningful snapshot of sentiment among tech startups in Germany. The questions asked were: \u201cHow many employees, including all founders, are currently employed at your startup?\u201d, \u201cHow many open positions are there currently at your startup?\u201d, \u201cHow is the number of employees at your startup expected to develop in 2026?\u201d, \u201cWhat impact does the use of AI have on your staffing needs?\u201d and \u201cWhat impact will the use of AI have on your staffing needs?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"\">Related Links<\/h4>\n<p>\ud83d\udc49&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitkom.org\" target=\"_blank\">www.bitkom.org<\/a>&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i>Photo: unsplash<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 11, 2026. The use of artificial intelligence is having an impact on jobs at tech startups. Over the past twelve months, about one in four tech startups (27 percent) has refrained from hiring new employees due to AI, and 7 percent have even cut jobs as a result. At the same time, however, 16 percent have hired additional staff because of AI, and in half of all startups (50 percent), AI has had no impact on staffing needs. All startups use AI in their business processes. These are the findings of a survey of 102 tech startups commissioned by the digital industry association Bitkom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4811],"tags":[4759,2013,1989],"class_list":["post-543325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-resources-en","tag-artificial-intelligence-ai","tag-recruiting","tag-startups"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bitkom: One in four startups has put new hires on hold\u2014because of AI - Silicon Saxony<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silicon-saxony.de\/en\/bitkom-one-in-four-startups-has-put-new-hires-on-hold-because-of-ai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bitkom: One in four startups has put new hires on hold\u2014because of AI - Silicon Saxony\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 11, 2026. The use of artificial intelligence is having an impact on jobs at tech startups. Over the past twelve months, about one in four tech startups (27 percent) has refrained from hiring new employees due to AI, and 7 percent have even cut jobs as a result. At the same time, however, 16 percent have hired additional staff because of AI, and in half of all startups (50 percent), AI has had no impact on staffing needs. All startups use AI in their business processes. 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