This paper examines how firms’ AI adoption shapes employee job satisfaction over time. Drawing on job characteristics theory and longitudinal data from 509 publicly listed US firms, the study shows that AI can both enrich and impair jobs, resulting in an inverted U-shaped relationship between AI adoption and job satisfaction. It also highlights how firm-level factors such as exploration orientation and data governance shape how employees experience AI-driven changes at work.
Authors & affiliations:
- Colin Schulz (University of Münster)
- David Bendig (University of Münster)
- Antonio Bräunche (University of Münster)
- Bastian Kindermann (TU Braunschweig)
