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• Unlike large companies, smaller companies that have adopted AI have been more likely to expand their workforces than to shrink them, Gallup found.
• But some big businesses have laid off workers because of AI, which is fueling worker concerns about the technology eliminating their role.

If your company is embracing AI, it could mean staffing changes are on the way—though not always in the form of cuts.

Smaller U.S. employers that have implemented AI have been more likely to expand their headcount, while larger companies have been more likely to cut their workforces, according to a survey released Monday by analytics firm Gallup. Still, Gallup found that AI use can be an indication that employers of all sizes may lay off staff, underscoring why workers are concerned the technology will disrupt their careers and companies are reflecting on what it means for their headcount and the financial health of consumers.

Among smaller organizations—those with 5,000 to 10,000 employees— AI adoption accompanied a workforce expansion 38% of the time, and a reduction 23% of the time, Gallup reported. Companies with 10,000 or more employees grew their headcount 30% of the time and cut it 33% of the time, the survey said.

Many workers have seen personal productivity gains because of AI, but few say the technology has transformed how their employer operates, Gallup said. Many companies are still searching for ways to benefit from the technology.

A number of high-profile companies have lately called AI a factor in their decision to conduct layoffs, including Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Pinterest (PINS) and Block (XYZ). Businesses referenced AI when announcing about 5% of layoffs last year, with the bulk of the cuts occurring in the tech sector, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Many firms are also investing in the technology while curbing raises.

“Because these organizations employ a large share of the workforce and are also among the most likely to adopt AI, workforce changes within large organizations may shape public perceptions of AI’s impact on jobs,” Gallup said.

Americans, especially those who work at organizations that are embracing AI, are increasingly worried the technology will eliminate their role, Gallup said. Still, many workers credit AI with improving their productivity—though few say it has transformed company-wide operations. Half of Americans now use AI at work, including 13% on a daily basis, Gallup said.

“AI’s effect will likely unfold unevenly across roles, industries and organizations,” Gallup said.

Some companies have already modified job responsibilities in response to AI, while others are still assessing their approach. Meanwhile, workers are learning how to use the technology and highlighting their command of it, with AI mentions on resumes tripling over the past two years, according to Monster, a job listings site, which said an eighth of such documents now list AI terms.

"AI skills on resumes are quickly becoming a staple," Monster said last month.

This article has been updated since it was first published to clarify some descriptions of Gallup's findings.

• Oracle shares have surged this week amid a broader market rally, after a difficult start to the year.
• The cloud computing giant announced a new power agreement for its growing array of data centers, along with new agentic AI products.

Optimism around new deals and AI offerings has made Oracle one of the biggest winners of this week's rally. Could it help pull the stock out of its recent slump?

Shares of Oracle (ORCL) climbed close to 5% Tuesday, after jumping nearly 13% Monday, after the cloud computing giant announced an expansion of its partnership with Bloom Energy (BE) to power its expanding network of data centers. Oracle also announced a new suite of agentic AI products Tuesday.

The gains have made Oracle the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 for the week so far, at a time when markets rallied broadly amid hopes a deal to end the war in Iran could come soon.

Oracle's recent advance could herald a turning point in sentiment surrounding the stock after a tough start to the year.

Oracle shares have been pressured for the last several months as the company faced concerns over its reliance on a few small customers and the debt load it has taken on to finance a massive data center buildout.

The company has posted consistently solid earnings, leading analysts to stay bullish on the stock. Oracle has also made some cost-cutting moves to offset its surging expenses, including laying off thousands of employees.

Still, even with Oracle's 18% gain since the week began, the stock is down more than 16% year-to-date, and has lost roughly 50% from its September highs.

• The Iran war isn't over, but stocks have rebounded from their war-driven sell-off, with the S&P 500 approaching a fresh record high on Tuesday amid optimism for a peace deal.
• Economic data has recently eased fears that higher oil prices would fuel a sustained acceleration of inflation and drag on consumer spending, the engine of the U.S. economy.

In the Middle East, not much has changed on the ground in the past week—fighting continues in Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, and negotiators left this weekend’s peace talks empty-handed. On Wall Street, traders see things differently.

The S&P 500 gained 1.2% on Tuesday, boosted by optimism for a lasting agreement between the U.S. and Iran that will end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the closure of which caused energy prices to skyrocket. Tuesday’s gains put the benchmark index at a two-month high and just 11 points, or 0.2%, away from an all-time closing high. (Follow Investopedia's live coverage of today's trading here.)

“There is a clear ‘mission accomplished’ tone being priced into markets as the ceasefire appears to be holding and talks set to move forward,” wrote Jake Behan, head of capital markets at ETF provider Direxion, on Tuesday.  

The stock market, like the U.S. economy, has proved incredibly resilient to a variety of shocks in recent years. Investors may be feeling confident that, barring the worst case scenario, a stock market that's already charged higher through trade uncertainty, stubborn inflation and elevated interest rates, can weather more uncertainty.

Optimism was buoyed on Tuesday by reports the U.S. and Iran will resume negotiations this week, as well as a much softer-than-expect wholesale inflation report that eased some fears about the effect a spike in oil prices will have on inflation in the coming months. Investors are also confident that corporate America had a strong first quarter, with analysts forecasting double-digit profit growth for the S&P 500.

“Notably, there’s been little evidence of meaningful demand destruction tied to the conflict, which suggests the underlying growth backdrop remains intact heading into any resolution,” said Behan. 

Consumer spending continued at a healthy clip last month, according to a Bank of America analysis of its clients’ debit and credit card spending. Aside from gas, the price of which rose steadily across the country last month, the spending categories that posted the biggest monthly increases were electronics, home improvement and department stores, the kind of discretionary spending one would expect to see decline against a bleak economic backdrop.

BofA attributed the resilience of consumer spending in part to the stock market’s relatively sanguine response to the Iran war. Even at the depths of last month’s sell-off, the S&P 500 still avoided a correction, or a 10% decline from its January highs. As a result, the higher-income cohorts who make up an increasing share of consumer spending felt comfortable to keep spending. According to BofA, a 20% decline in the stock market would likely be required for higher income households to rein in their spending. 

To be sure, experts note the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is a tenuous one. Both sides are far apart on some key points, including Iran’s right to enrich uranium and a system for overseeing the Strait of Hormuz. And, with traffic through the strait still a fraction of its pre-war levels, global oil supply is, at best, months away from anything resembling normal.

Ben May, director of global macro research at Oxford Economics, forecast on Monday that it will take up to eight months for oil shipments through the strait to reach pre-war levels. May expects Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, to end the year around $80 a barrel, down from $95 today and nearly $110 before last week’s ceasefire announcement, but up from $73 before the war. 

• Year-to-date net flows into spot bitcoin ETFs, including Morgan Stanley's latest, recently turned positive; crypto-linked stocks including Robinhood and Coinbase were among the S&P 500's top gainers on Tuesday.
• Strategy, a publicly-traded company made famous by its bitcoin stockpile, recently purchased more than $1 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin has some shine on it again.

The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency was recently above $75,000, raising hopes that coin markets are recovering from the October rout—which pulled bitcoin from six-digit highs to around $60,000 in February—in earnest. Crypto-linked stocks are also rising, with Robinhood (HOOD) and Coinbase (COIN) among the day's standout gainers.

Crypto has been stuck in a rut since bitcoin reached an all-time high in October, but the latest surge in buying activity is raising investor hopes that coin markets are finding their groove once more.

The latest turn in crypto markets has coincided with the return of risk-on vibes, as investors last week started to price in the possibility of an end to the war in Iran. U.S. stocks are up year-to-date, crude oil prices have backed off highs, and the Cboe VIX, also known as the Street's fear gauge, is below 20, a level indicating price stability, and on the decline. Meanwhile, there are signs of life in bitcoin buying activity.

Year-to-date net flows into spot bitcoin ETFs turned positive at the end of last week, nearing $173 million, according to Farside Investors data. That included Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), which launched last week sporting the lowest annual fee on the market; it collected over $30 million in flows on its first day. Goldman Sachs (GS) on Tuesday filed to launch a "Bitcoin Premium Income ETF," which seeks to generate income using a covered call strategy.

Meanwhile, Strategy (MSTR) on Monday said it earlier this month bought over $1 billion worth of bitcoin at an average price of $71,902. That, the company said, brings its average bitcoin cost to around $75,577—just below bitcoin's price as of Tuesday morning.

"The crypto market is beginning to show signs of basing after several months of sustained downside pressure and relative underperformance," Joel Kruger, Markets Strategist at LMAX Group said in emailed comments yesterday. "That said, from a technical and structural standpoint, the market still needs to confirm whether these early signs of stabilization can evolve into a more meaningful bottom."

• Optimism among small business owners declined to its lowest since "Liberation Day" in March as the Iran war pushed up fuel prices.
• Still, business owners were significantly more optimistic than consumers, whose feelings about the economy and finances plummeted to an all-time low in April.

An index of sentiment among small business owners took a dive in March, though businesses remain more optimistic than consumers about the economy and their finances.

Optimism among small business owners fell in March to its lowest level since the "Liberation Day" tariff announcement last April, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Federation of Independent Business.

NFIB's Small Business Optimism Index fell three points to 95.8, below the historic average of 98, as the Iran war drove fuel prices skyward and clouded the outlook for the future. An index measuring uncertainty rose to 92 from 88 in February, reaching its highest since September and remaining well above the historic average of 68.

The survey indicated that the Iran war and its accompanying fuel price hikes are leading small businesses to raise their own prices and keep hiring plans on the back burner. However, the attitude of business owners was relatively sunny compared to that of consumers, whose sentiment hit its lowest since at least 1952 in April, according to the long-running University of Michigan survey.

"The dramatic spike in oil prices has spooked consumers and owners alike," NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement accompanying the data release. "Small business owners are having to absorb those higher input costs and pass them along to their customers.”

With small business owners feeling gloomy about the economy, the recent slowdown in job creation is less likely to turn around any time soon.

The survey highlighted the cost pressures small businesses face from fuel price increases, on top of the price hikes they've already had to absorb from tariffs.

“The overall state of my business is good at the moment; however, with all the uncertainty in the economy (tariff surcharges, high freight charges, skyrocketing insurance rates, and the war with Iran), I feel to cover the increased cost, I may price myself out of the market," a retailer in Iowa told the NFIB. "Lowering prices is only an option if prices of inputs come down and that doesn’t look like it will happen in the near future.”

In a bad sign for the labor market, business hiring intentions hovered near rock-bottom levels. The percentage of businesses saying they would increase hiring minus those who said they would decrease stayed at 12%, the same as in February.

The survey is a relatively minor indicator of the health of the economy and economists tend to take it with a grain of salt because, like many other opinion surveys, it's influenced by partisan feelings.

"Small business owners also tend to lean Republican, which at times seems to lead to more upbeat readings when the GOP holds the White House, complicating longer-term comparisons," Oliver Allen, senior U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a commentary. "That said, the March survey paints a dim picture."

• Amazon is buying Globalstar, in a bid to grow its Leo satellite internet service.
• Amazon will take over as the provider of emergency satellite services for Apple from Globalstar, which Apple bought a 20% stake of in 2024.

Amazon said it's agreed to buy Globalstar, putting an end to weeks of speculation and sending the Stalink rival's stock up sharply Tuesday.

Globalstar (GSAT) shares were over 10% higher in recent trading, while Amazon (AMZN) shares climbed 3% after the deal was announced, amid a broader market rally.

The move could help Amazon grow its Leo satellite internet network and compete with Starlink, the satellite internet service of Elon Musk's SpaceX. Amazon said it plans to launch a direct-to-device internet service through Leo in 2028, and partner with mobile providers to expand their coverage capabilities.

Globalstar shareholders will have the option of receiving 0.321 shares of Amazon stock or $90 in cash for each share of Globalstar stock they own. The $90 price represents upside of 31% to the stock's close on April 1, a day before The Financial Times reported deal talks were in progress.

Tuesday's stock gains suggest investors are bullish on the deal's potential benefits for Amazon, while Globalstar shares are climbing toward the $90 price per share outlined in the deal.

Amazon said the deal has been approved by shareholders representing 58% of Globalstar's voting rights, and expects the deal to close sometime next year, pending regulatory approval.

Amazon also announced that it will take over as the provider of emergency satellite services for some Apple (AAPL) iPhone and Apple Watch models from Globalstar, which Apple bought a 20% stake of in 2024.

With Tuesday's gains, Amazon shares are up about 8% year-to-date, while Globalstar shares have added close to a third of their value.

• The U.S. economy remains resilient, but "an increasingly complex set of risks" threatens its stability, wrote Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, on Tuesday.
• Executives at many of America's largest banks have lately noted the economy's strength, but warn that the economy has yet to feel the full effects of high oil prices.

Despite a rough start to 2026, the U.S. economy is still standing. Tectonic shifts underfoot could change that, according to the heads of America's biggest banks.

“The U.S. economy remained resilient in the [first] quarter, with consumers still earning and spending and businesses still healthy,” wrote JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon on Tuesday. But it faces “an increasingly complex set of risks,” including geopolitical tensions, volatile energy prices, an evolving trade regime, large government debts, and high asset prices, Dimon wrote.  

Dimon’s comments echoed his annual letter to shareholders last week, in which he warned that even resilient economies have a “tipping point.” That warning came just before President Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face “decimation,” when oil prices were at multi-year highs and investors struggled to see a way out of the Middle East conflict. A tenuous ceasefire has since pushed oil prices lower and buoyed stocks.

The U.S. economy has weathered an array of headwinds over the past year, including ever-shifting trade policy, geopolitical tensions, and uncertainty about the impact of AI. Bank executives see that resilience holding for now, but warn that an accumulation of economic pressures can have unpredictable consequences.

Goldman Sachs (GS) chief David Solomon struck a similar tone during his bank’s earnings call Monday. Solomon noted uncertainty created by the war had caused a slowdown in IPO activity and that an extended period of elevated oil prices would weigh on growth, though "at this point, the underlying economy still remains relatively robust.” 

“We still see continued resiliency in the underlying economy and the financial health of the consumers and businesses we serve remains strong,” wrote Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo (WFC), in the bank’s quarterly results Tuesday. The economy has, however, yet to feel the full impact of higher oil prices, he warned.

Resurgent inflation is one of the biggest risks for which investors and economists are bracing, but economic data so far has painted a murky picture of the inflation outlook. Consumer prices rose 0.9% in March, a sharp increase driven by the largest one-month increase in energy prices on record. Yet wholesale prices, which can foretell where consumer prices are headed, increased half as much as economists expected last month. 

"The impact of the Middle East conflict is hitting Asia and Europe harder than countries such as the U.S. and Brazil, which are more insulated from energy shocks," Citibank (C) CEO Jane Fraser said Tuesday on a conference call, a transcript of which was provided by AlphaSense. "Clearly, the longer this goes on, the more pronounced the second or third order impacts are going to be around the world, and inflation is now a greater risk to growth and will likely cause central banks to lean towards more restrictive monetary policies."

Investors are hopeful that negotiations can deliver a lasting resolution of the U.S.-Iran conflict, which was paused by a two-week ceasefire last Wednesday. Stocks were sharply higher and oil prices lower Tuesday following reports that the U.S. has proposed a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment in Iran, a more modest ask than the permanent ban officials have publicly demanded.

With Tuesday's gains, the S&P 500 was trading not far off its record close.

This article has been updated since it was first published to add Fraser's comment and reflect market movements.

• After 20 or 25 years of payments or qualifying payment pauses, borrowers on income-driven repayment plans can receive forgiveness.
• The Department of Education will restore a payment counter that allows borrowers to track progress toward student loan forgiveness.
• The payment counter will help borrowers check their status after many significant student loan changes in 2025.

After almost a year without official payment counts, the Department of Education recently announced it is bringing back a tool to track student loan forgiveness.

Federal student loan borrowers on an income-driven repayment plan can have the remaining debt discharged after making qualifying monthly payments for 20 or 25 years, depending on the plan. The "IDR payment counter" on the Federal Student Aid website allowed borrowers to see how many payments they had made and how long it would take to receive forgiveness.

This tool was taken down in April 2025, but the Department of Education recently said it is updating its system to resume the payment counter.

There are currently about 12.6 million federal student loan borrowers in an income-driven repayment plan. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, these borrowers have faced several changes to their repayment plan, which many say have confused and overwhelmed them. Knowing how far they are from forgiveness can provide some clarity about their debt.

However, the Department of Education has been inconsistent with its plans for the IDR payment counter.

Before the Biden Administration left the White House in late January 2025, it created the payment counter. That April, the Department of Education took the counter down.

A couple of months later, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the Department of Education planned to restore the counter soon. Yet, in December, the Education Department said it was no longer using the tool and had no plans to resume it.

The Department of Education has yet to respond to questions about an estimated date for when the IDR payment counter will be back up.

Student loan borrowers have seen many significant changes to their repayment plans and forgiveness over the past year. The resumption of the payment tracker will help them understand how close they are to forgiveness after those changes.

The Department of Education will open a new income-driven repayment plan, the Repayment Assistance Plan, for borrowers to begin enrolling in on July 1, 2026. While monthly payments are lower under RAP than under other repayment plans for some borrowers, this plan delays forgiveness by five to 10 years compared to the existing income-driven repayment plans.

Once it's up, the payment counter can help borrowers understand if they are close to forgiveness and if moving to the RAP plan is worth it.

Additionally, the Saving for a Valuable Education plan, a Biden-era income-driven repayment plan, was ruled illegal in March.

The decision forces the almost 7.2 million borrowers still enrolled in the SAVE plan to move to another repayment plan and resume payments after being in forbearance for almost two years. Depending on which income-driven repayment plan they choose, their forgiveness date may be delayed compared to what it would have been under the SAVE plan.

In the same lawsuit, the district judge confirmed that time spent in certain types of forbearance and deferments counted toward the payment count for income-driven repayment forgiveness.

For borrowers in these specific forbearance and deferment programs, this change will increase the number of qualifying payments and bring them closer to forgiveness.

• Federal Reserve officials are widely expected to hold the central bank's key interest rate steady at their next meeting April 28 to 29.
• The Fed is worried the Iran war could cause higher inflation, and analysts have scaled back expectations for rate cuts at future meetings.
• The meeting could be Jerome Powell's last as chair of the central bank's board of governors.

The Federal Reserve's policy committee next meets April 28 and 29, and officials are expected to hold the central bank's key interest rate steady for the third meeting in a row.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet to consider changes to the federal funds rate from its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The Fed held the rate steady at its January and March meetings. It cut the rate by a quarter point at each of its three meetings last fall, aiming to prevent a job-market slowdown from deepening. Since then, the Iran war has spiked energy prices and clouded the economic outlook.

The Fed's rate decision and what the committee signals about its future moves will influence borrowing costs for loans, inflation, and the job market in the months ahead.

Fed officials have mostly taken a "wait-and-see" approach to assess how the economy will react to the Iran war. Financial markets are pricing in a 99% chance the Fed will hold the fed funds rate steady at its next meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate moves based on fed funds futures trading data.

The fed funds rate drives borrowing costs on credit cards and car loans, and also filters through to mortgages and other longer-term credit. Lower interest rates encourage spending and can help boost the economy, while higher interest rates reduce demand and help lower inflation.

The war threatens to undermine both sides of the Fed's dual mandate to keep inflation low and employment high, a concern Fed officials discussed behind the scenes at their March meeting.

In public communications, Fed officials have said they believe the central bank's policy committee should wait to see which poses a greater risk before responding, either by lowering rates to boost employment or by raising rates to stamp out inflation if it worsens. The second option was widely considered off the table before the war, with officials mainly debating when and how much they would cut rates.

April's meeting could be the last with Fed Chair Jerome Powell in charge, but that's not at all certain.

Powell's term as leader ends in May. However, Kevin Warsh, whom President Donald Trump has nominated as Powell's successor, needs to be confirmed by the Senate in time to helm the Fed's next meeting in June. If Warsh's confirmation is delayed, Powell has said he would stay on as Fed chair temporarily. He could also remain on the Fed's board as a regular member until 2028.

Powell's tenure as chair is tied to the power struggle between President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve over the central bank's independence. Powell has said he won't leave the board of governors until the Department of Justice drops its investigation into alleged cost overruns in the Fed's headquarters renovation.

A key senator, Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina, has vowed to block Warsh's nomination until the White House ends the probe. Warsh's confirmation hearing is scheduled for next week, according to the Senate Banking Committee's top Republican.

The Supreme Court is also considering whether to let Trump fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The high court heard oral arguments in the case in January and is expected to rule by June on whether the unprecedented firing can proceed.

The actions against Powell and Cook have raised questions about whether the Fed can remain independent of the White House. Economists say the Fed's independence is key to its credibility and its ability to manage inflation.

• United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has reportedly discussed the idea of United acquiring American Airlines with senior Trump administration officials.
• Such a deal could face antitrust concerns, as it would create the largest airline in the world with over $110 billion in revenue

Shares of United Airlines and American Airlines are taking off on reports of potential merger talks.

United Airlines (UAL) CEO Scott Kirby has pitched the idea of United acquiring American Airlines (AAL) to U.S. government officials, Bloomberg reported last night. Reuters later reported that the pitch came in a White House meeting with President Donald Trump in late February. American shares jumped close to 8% in recent trading, while United shares climbed about 2%.

Such a deal would likely face antitrust concerns, as it would create the largest airline in the world with over $110 billion in annual revenue, compared to the next largest in Delta Air Lines (DAL) with $63 billion in sales last year.

United declined to comment on the reports, and American did not respond to an Investopedia request for comment in time for publication.

While it remains unclear whether United and American have held merger talks, Tuesday's gains suggest investors are bullish on the idea of a deal.

Airline deals have faced significant hurdles in recent years, with JetBlue (JBLU) and Spirit Airlines calling off a merger in 2024 after it was blocked by regulators. JetBlue has undertaken partnerships with American and United, and its previous collaboration with American was ruled as reducing competition by a judge in 2023.

Executives from both airlines could face questions about the reports from investors and analysts when they report earnings next week, with United's results due April 22 and American's set for April 23.

Even with Tuesday's gains, United and American shares are still down 13% and 20%, respectively, since the start of the year.