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Special Questions
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This section features timely and topical questions asked by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond as part of its monthly business surveys. These special questions vary each month and are designed to capture insights on emerging trends, economic disruptions, policy changes, or other current events impacting business conditions. The responses help provide a more nuanced understanding of the evolving economic landscape beyond our standard survey metrics.
December 2025 Special Questions Results
In December 2025, we asked regional business executives about the ease of hiring workers compared to last year. The results below are based on 278 total responses, 108 of which are from the manufacturing survey and 172 of which are from the non-manufacturing survey.
1. What is your outlook for the following in 2026?
Topic: Outlook
| Total [n=278] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very pessimistic | Somewhat pessimistic | Neutral | Somewhat optimistic | Very optimistic | Not sure | |
| Your business | 2.9% | 16.8% | 21.4% | 43.9% | 14.6% | 0.4% |
| Overall U.S. economy | 6.5% | 33.1% | 19.4% | 32.0% | 8.9% | 0% |
| Manufacturing [n=108] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very pessimistic | Somewhat pessimistic | Neutral | Somewhat optimistic | Very optimistic | Not sure | |
| Your business | 2.8% | 18.5% | 19.4% | 41.7% | 16.7% | 0.9% |
| Overall U.S. economy | 7.4% | 29.6% | 19.4% | 33.3% | 10.2% | 0% |
| Non-Manufacturing [n=172] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very pessimistic | Somewhat pessimistic | Neutral | Somewhat optimistic | Very optimistic | Not sure | |
| Your business | 2.9% | 15.7% | 22.7% | 45.4% | 13.4% | 0% |
| Overall U.S. economy | 5.9% | 35.3% | 19.4% | 31.2% | 8.2% | 0% |
2. Do you currently provide your employees with artificial intelligence (AI) tools for use in their jobs?
Topic: Artificial intelligence
| Total (n=281) | Manufacturing (n=108) | Non-Manufacturing (n=173) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes, public AI tools | 40.9% | 37.0% | 43.4% |
| Yes, both AI tools managed by our company | 12.8% | 4.6% | 17.9% |
| Yes, both AI tools managed by our company and tools that are public | 16.4% | 18.5% | 15.0% |
| No, employees do not have access to any AI tools | 24.5% | 36.1% | 17.9% |
| Not sure | 4.9% | 3.7% | 5.8% |
3. At any point in 2026, how likely is your company to provide or continue to provide your employees with artificial intelligence (AI) tools for use in their jobs?
Topic: Artificial intelligence, Outlook
| Total (n=281) | Manufacturing (n=108) | Non-Manufacturing (n=173) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely will | 42.7% | 36.1% | 46.8% |
| Probably will | 31.7% | 29.6% | 32.9% |
| Probably won't | 14.2% | 19.4% | 10.9% |
| Definitely won't | 6.1% | 6.5% | 5.8% |
| Not sure | 5.3% | 8.3% | 3.5% |
4. Does your company currently allow its employees to use artificial intelligence (AI) for any of the following work-related tasks? Please only consider AI applications your company officially permits employees to use (either managed directly by your company or public AI tools).
Topic: Artificial intelligence
| Total [n=171–263] | Manufacturing [n=70–97] | Non-Manufacturing [n=101–167] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drafting/editing emails, reports, presentations or other documents | 76.8% | 74.0% | 78.4% |
| Organizing emails or scheduling meetings | 52.3% | 49.5% | 54.0% |
| Summarizing meeting notes | 71.5% | 62.8% | 76.3% |
| Accounting or finance activities | 32.0% | 25.8% | 35.7% |
| Customer or vendor relationship management | 30.5% | 20.7% | 36.4% |
| Coding | 24.0% | 20.0% | 26.7% |
| Generating graphs, images, or video | 67.3% | 59.3% | 71.9% |
| Managing supply chains | 17.5% | 14.3% | 19.7% |
| Analyzing data (including text and quantitative analysis) | 60.9% | 49.5% | 67.7% |
| Other work-related tasks | 59.6% | 56.7% | 61.3% |
5. At any point in 2026, will your company allow or continue to allow your employees to use artificial intelligence (AI) for any of the following work related tasks? Please only consider AI applications your company officially permits employees to use (either managed directly by your company or public AI tools).
Topic: Artificial intelligence, Outlook
| Total [n=171–263] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely Will | Probably Will | Probably Won't | Definitely Won't | Not sure | |
| Drafting/editing emails, reports, presentations or other documents | 50.4% | 32.1% | 10.7% | 3.1% | 3.9% |
| Organizing emails or scheduling meetings | 38.7% | 31.2% | 18.8% | 5.1% | 6.2% |
| Summarizing meeting notes | 49.2% | 28.5% | 14.6% | 3.2% | 4.4% |
| Accounting or finance activities | 24.4% | 30.0% | 26.6% | 10.4% | 9.6% |
| Customer or vendor relationship management | 22.1% | 25.0% | 30.3% | 10.3% | 12.3% |
| Coding | 25.0% | 13.9% | 29.1% | 17.4% | 14.5% |
| Generating graphs, images, or video | 46.8% | 31.2% | 14.4% | 3.2% | 4.4% |
| Managing supply chains | 14.6% | 24.9% | 31.2% | 14.2% | 15.1% |
| Analyzing data (including text and quantitative analysis) | 41.9% | 33.7% | 12.9% | 5.1% | 6.3% |
| Other work-related tasks | 36.2% | 33.5% | 12.7% | 3.5% | 14.2% |
| Manufacturing [n=70–97] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely Will | Probably Will | Probably Won't | Definitely Won't | Not sure | |
| Drafting/editing emails, reports, presentations or other documents | 43.8% | 35.4% | 11.5% | 3.1% | 6.3% |
| Organizing emails or scheduling meetings | 30.9% | 31.9% | 22.3% | 7.5% | 7.5% |
| Summarizing meeting notes | 40.2% | 27.6% | 18.4% | 5.8% | 8.1% |
| Accounting or finance activities | 24.5% | 22.3% | 28.7% | 14.9% | 9.6% |
| Customer or vendor relationship management | 19.6% | 17.4% | 38.0% | 12.0% | 13.0% |
| Coding | 26.4% | 13.9% | 27.8% | 18.1% | 13.9% |
| Generating graphs, images, or video | 42.9% | 29.7% | 12.1% | 5.5% | 9.9% |
| Managing supply chains | 20.0% | 22.4% | 29.4% | 15.3% | 12.9% |
| Analyzing data (including text and quantitative analysis) | 34.7% | 31.6% | 16.8% | 7.4% | 9.5% |
| Other work-related tasks | 32.7% | 33.7% | 16.3% | 4.1% | 13.3% |
| Non-Manufacturing [n=101–167] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely Will | Probably Will | Probably Won't | Definitely Won't | Not sure | |||
| Drafting/editing emails, reports, presentations or other documents | 54.2% | 30.1% | 10.2% | 3.0% | 2.4% | ||
| Organizing emails or scheduling meetings | 43.2% | 30.9% | 16.7% | 3.7% | 5.6% | ||
| Summarizing meeting notes | 54.1% | 28.9% | 12.6% | 1.9% | 2.5% | ||
| Accounting or finance activities | 24.4% | 34.6% | 23.7% | 7.7% | 9.6% | ||
| Customer or vendor relationship management | 23.7% | 29.6% | 25.7% | 9.2% | 11.8% | ||
| Coding | 24.0% | 14.0% | 30.0% | 17.0% | 15.0% | ||
| Generating graphs, images, or video | 49.1% | 32.1% | 15.7% | 1.9% | 1.3% | ||
| Managing supply chains | 10.8% | 26.7% | 32.5% | 13.3% | 16.7% | ||
| Analyzing data (including text and quantitative analysis) | 46.3% | 35.0% | 10.6% | 3.8% | 4.4% | ||
| Other work-related tasks | 38.3% | 33.3% | 10.5% | 3.1% | 14.8% | ||
6. Does your company currently use artificial intelligence (AI) in its business operations?
Topic: Artificial intelligence
| Total (n=279) | Manufacturing (n=106) | Non-Manufacturing (n=173) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 55.9% | 48.1% | 60.7% |
| No | 41.2% | 48.1% | 36.9% |
| Not sure | 2.9% | 3.8% | 2.3% |
7. At any point in 2026, will your company start or continue to use artificial intelligence (AI) in its business operations?
Topic: Artificial intelligence, Outlook
| Total (n=279) | Manufacturing (n=106) | Non-Manufacturing (n=173) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely Will | 40.9% | 34.9% | 44.5% |
| Probably Will | 34.4% | 36.8% | 32.9% |
| Probably Won't | 14.7% | 16.9% | 13.3% |
| Definitely Won't | 3.6% | 3.8% | 3.5% |
| Not sure | 6.5% | 7.6% | 5.8% |
8. Does your company currently use artificial intelligence (AI) for any of the following to support business operations?
Topic: Artificial intelligence, Outlook
| Total (n=206–259) | Manufacturing (n=91–97) | Non-Manufacturing (n=112–163) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automate repetitive tasks | 40.5% | 32.3% | 45.3% |
| Quality control and assurance | 18.3% | 13.7% | 21.2% |
| Manage inventory (track and optimize) | 14.1% | 12.6% | 15.3% |
| Track or Detect defects in products | 9.2% | 12.8% | 6.3% |
| Improve worker safety | 8.2% | 6.3% | 9.6% |
| Manage energy consumption | 4.3% | 2.1% | 5.8% |
| Assess and track risk | 10.5% | 7.5% | 12.5% |
| Financial management | 19.7% | 12.5% | 23.9% |
| Staff scheduling | 10.1% | 3.3% | 14.3% |
| Track worker productivity | 12.6% | 8.4% | 15.2% |
| Manage facilities | 7.0% | 3.2% | 9.6% |
| Customer service | 28.6% | 18.6% | 34.8% |
| Other operational purposes | 34.8% | 30.2% | 37.7% |
9. At any point in 2026, will your company start or continue to use artificial intelligence (AI) for any of the following to support business operations?
Topic: Artificial intelligence, Outlook
| Total (n=204–254) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely Will | Probably Will | Probably Will | Definitely Won't | Not sure | |
| Automate repetitive tasks | 27.2% | 36.6% | 22.8% | 6.7% | 6.7% |
| Quality control and assurance | 15.9% | 23.4% | 37.7% | 10.0% | 13.0% |
| Manage inventory (track and optimize) | 9.1% | 29.5% | 39.1% | 11.9% | 10.5% |
| Track or Detect defects in products | 7.8% | 14.7% | 50.0% | 15.7% | 11.8% |
| Improve worker safety | 6.0% | 19.4% | 44.2% | 12.9% | 17.5% |
| Manage energy consumption | 6.2% | 12.3% | 52.9% | 13.2% | 15.4% |
| Assess and track risk | 9.5% | 18.6% | 42.9% | 14.3% | 14.7% |
| Financial management | 14.6% | 27.6% | 33.9% | 12.2% | 11.8% |
| Staff scheduling | 9.3% | 21.6% | 43.6% | 12.7% | 12.7% |
| Track worker productivity | 11.1% | 26.3% | 36.6% | 13.2% | 12.8% |
| Manage facilities | 4.9% | 16.0% | 48.0% | 15.1% | 16.0% |
| Customer service | 21.4% | 27.4% | 32.7% | 8.5% | 10.1% |
| Other operational purposes | 23.7% | 31.7% | 23.3% | 5.6% | 15.7% |
| Total (n=90–96) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely Will | Probably Will | Probably Will | Definitely Won't | Not sure | |
| Automate repetitive tasks | 20.0% | 39.0% | 30.5% | 6.3% | 4.2% |
| Quality control and assurance | 8.5% | 25.5% | 47.9% | 10.6% | 7.5% |
| Manage inventory (track and optimize) | 8.5% | 34.0% | 39.4% | 11.7% | 6.4% |
| Track or Detect defects in products | 9.7% | 15.1% | 57.0% | 9.7% | 8.6% |
| Improve worker safety | 5.3% | 16.0% | 55.3% | 11.7% | 11.7% |
| Manage energy consumption | 2.2% | 12.9% | 63.4% | 11.8% | 9.7% |
| Assess and track risk | 5.4% | 15.2% | 54.4% | 16.3% | 8.7% |
| Financial management | 10.5% | 21.1% | 48.4% | 14.7% | 5.3% |
| Staff scheduling | 2.2% | 18.9% | 58.9% | 13.3% | 6.7% |
| Track worker productivity | 5.3% | 26.6% | 45.7% | 12.8% | 9.6% |
| Manage facilities | 2.2% | 15.2% | 57.6% | 15.2% | 9.8% |
| Customer service | 12.5% | 26.0% | 45.8% | 6.3% | 9.4% |
| Other operational purposes | 15.6% | 36.5% | 30.2% | 5.2% | 12.5% |
| Non-Manufacturing (n=111–159) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely Will | Probably Will | Probably Will | Definitely Won't | Not sure | |
| Automate repetitive tasks | 31.5% | 35.2% | 18.2% | 6.9% | 8.2% |
| Quality control and assurance | 20.7% | 22.1% | 31.0% | 9.7% | 16.6% |
| Manage inventory (track and optimize) | 9.5% | 25.9% | 38.8% | 12.1% | 13.8% |
| Track or Detect defects in products | 6.3% | 14.4% | 44.1% | 20.7% | 14.4% |
| Improve worker safety | 6.5% | 22.0% | 35.8% | 13.8% | 22.0% |
| Manage energy consumption | 9.0% | 11.9% | 45.5% | 14.2% | 19.4% |
| Assess and track risk | 12.2% | 20.9% | 35.3% | 13.0% | 18.7% |
| Financial management | 17.0% | 31.5% | 25.2% | 10.7% | 15.7% |
| Staff scheduling | 13.7% | 23.3% | 34.3% | 12.3% | 16.4% |
| Track worker productivity | 14.8% | 26.2% | 30.9% | 13.4% | 14.8% |
| Manage facilities | 6.8% | 16.5% | 41.4% | 15.0% | 20.3% |
| Customer service | 27.0% | 28.3% | 24.3% | 9.9% | 10.5% |
| Other operational purposes | 28.8% | 28.8% | 19.0% | 5.9% | 17.7% |
10. How important are the following factors in your decision to adopt or plan to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) at your company?
Topic: Artificial intelligence, Operations
| Total (n=237) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not at all important | Slightly important | Moderately important | Very important | Extremely important | |
| Improving production efficiency | 12.7% | 13.9% | 24.5% | 27.9% | 21.1% |
| Improving labor productivity | 8.5% | 17.8% | 22.5% | 30.1% | 21.2% |
| Reducing labor costs | 16.0% | 19.4% | 31.2% | 19.0% | 14.4% |
| Improving decision-making (i.e., data analysis, forecasting | 9.3% | 18.1% | 27.4% | 26.6% | 18.6% |
| Developing or improving products or services | 12.2% | 18.1% | 26.2% | 27.9% | 15.6% |
| Reaching customers more efficiently (i.e., marketing, after sales support) | 9.3% | 15.6% | 24.9% | 29.5% | 20.7% |
| Manufacturing (n=85) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not at all important | Slightly important | Moderately important | Very important | Extremely important | |
| Improving production efficiency | 14.1% | 16.5% | 28.2% | 23.5% | 17.7% |
| Improving labor productivity | 10.6% | 17.7% | 28.2% | 23.5% | 20.0% |
| Reducing labor costs | 21.2% | 16.5% | 28.2% | 18.8% | 15.3% |
| Improving decision-making (i.e., data analysis, forecasting | 12.9% | 17.7% | 23.5% | 28.2% | 17.7% |
| Developing or improving products or services | 16.5% | 24.7% | 24.7% | 22.4% | 11.8% |
| Reaching customers more efficiently (i.e., marketing, after sales support) | 10.6% | 20.0% | 30.6% | 25.9% | 12.9% |
| Non-Manufacturing (n=152) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not at all important | Slightly important | Moderately important | Very important | Extremely important | |
| Improving production efficiency | 11.8% | 12.5% | 22.4% | 30.3% | 23.0% |
| Improving labor productivity | 7.3% | 17.9% | 19.2% | 33.8% | 21.9% |
| Reducing labor costs | 13.2% | 21.1% | 32.9% | 19.1% | 13.8% |
| Improving decision-making (i.e., data analysis, forecasting | 7.2% | 18.4% | 29.6% | 25.7% | 19.1% |
| Developing or improving products or services | 9.9% | 14.5% | 27.0% | 30.9% | 17.8% |
| Reaching customers more efficiently (i.e., marketing, after sales support) | 8.6% | 13.2% | 21.7% | 31.6% | 25.0% |
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