The Georgia Chamber Foundation has released its new Q2 Quarterly Report, titled Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The report examines research and development, along with the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) and how it might impact Georgia.
Among the key findings in the report are that Georgia is predicted to add nearly 200,000 STEM jobs just over the next five years, twice the national average. This is at a time when AI is increasingly becoming a challenge for the labor market, with companies looking at ways they can utilize AI to lower their workforce needs. More than 60 percent of Georgia executives said their companies will increase investment in AI technologies over the next three years. The impact of AI is still unclear. It is possible that many of the jobs AI might phase out are the type of jobs that may have already been outsourced, including customer service calls or software development. Many of those jobs may not be in Georgia already, possibly accounting for some of that boom in expected STEM jobs over the next five years.
Georgia’s vaunted business climate is born out in its ranking as the fifth highest number of business applications but that breaks down somewhat as it is the 44th state for the percentage of those applications that are expected to form into a business within a year. The state is certainly helped out by its educational institutions, ranking 13th for the most STEM doctorates nationally. The state already ranks ninth for the number of high-tech jobs.
Besides that increased investment in artificial intelligence, the report also found that companies’ second biggest investment will be in automation and digital solutions – reported by 50 precent of companies, with the next highest investment in analytics, which is just barely ahead of cybersecurity. Sustainability and supplier diversity also were reported as innovation investments by more than 25 percent of companies. Interestingly, every reported category is down from 2023, except for AI which did not appear in the data in 2023 but is now reported as an investment by more than 60 percent of companies.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, software developers are still the top STEM occupation in the state, accounting for more than five times of the new STEM jobs in the state, with more than 50,000. The next most was data scientists, with some 8,400 new jobs this year.
The report is part of the Georgia Chamber’s initiatives around the new strategic plan Georgia|2050. The plan aims to looks decades ahead as Georgia continues to rapidly expand its population and its economy. The plan rests of five pillars meant to join quality of life and economic planning: regional prosperity and healthy communities; talent and workforce preparedness; infrastructure and energy; innovation and entrepreneurship; and, competitiveness and economic development.
To read the full report: https://www.gachamber.com/data/q2-quarterly-economic-report-2025-fostering-innovation-entrepreneurship/
