Special Questions

Texas Business Outlook Surveys

Data were collected November 10-18 and 67 Texas manufacturers responded to the survey.

NOTE: 67 responses.

NOTE: 67 responses.

NOTE: 67 responses.

NOTE: 67 responses.

NOTES: 65 responses. These calculations exclude the 1.5 percent of respondents selecting “Don’t know.”

NOTES: 21 responses. This question was only posed to those noting increased productivity.

The following was posed to those indicating increased productivity in question 5.

• We have put equipment in place to make things more efficient.

• Capital investments in new equipment have made our workforce more productive.
• Productivity is increasing due to new machinery and processes installed and implemented. We are focusing on lower-priced products to service the lower end of the new home construction business. Volume/sales are increasing, as is productivity and profit. But we are gaining market share; the market is not increasing.

• We send employees to class to gain skills.
• Increased orders have added to the need to increase production. We are now working on plans to purchase new equipment to increase production capacity with the same number of employees.
• Our workers are highly trained for their jobs and have become more efficient.

• Continuous improvement initiatives are often offset with required savings in our contracts with customers. The expectation is 3 to 5 percent year-over-year cost reductions, so we try to meet or exceed such.
• The use of AI is improving certain areas of the business as far as efficiency.
• We have implemented RPA (robotic process automation) in many areas of the supply chain, and people are utilizing other AI tools to become more efficient. We expect efficiencies to increase as we invest more in our AI and process automation technology.
• We have implemented flexible work hours with our employees when there is less work to do, which allows us to retain our employees and lower our labor costs, and our employees also like this because it allows them time off to do personal things that they want to do.

• Having a large, visual, work in process has motivated our production folks to push for more production via new ideas for programs and tooling.

• We hired more experienced programmers, which has led to improved output.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Texas Business Outlook Surveys

Data were collected November 10-18 and 243 Texas business executives responded to the survey.

NOTE: 236 responses.

NOTE: 236 responses.

NOTE: 235 responses.

NOTE: 234 responses.

NOTES: 233 responses. These calculations exclude the 1.3 percent of respondents selecting “Don’t know.”

NOTES: 72 responses. This question was only posed to those noting increased productivity. These calculations exclude the 4.0 percent of respondents selecting “Don’t know.”

The following was posed to those indicating increased productivity in question 5.

• Productivity improved as efficiencies improved. Training of new staff members and seasonal staff has also led to improved productivity.
• Our young sales people are growing into their sales roles nicely, neither more quickly than we thought nor more slowly than we feared.

• AI tools helped increase productivity slightly in the last six months.

• We have put a lot of emphasis on productivity to try to improve it. We have also spent a lot of money on training and education to help our workers improve their productivity.

• AI.

• AI is increasing productivity.
• LLMs [large language models] are helping us do things better or faster, sometimes. This  includes coding.
• In-house training is beginning to pay off, coupled with increased workload. 
• We let some low-performing employees go. We now have a much better staff.
• The gloomy economic outlook is making staff work more seriously and better. AI tool use is allowing staff to do things in a much shorter time and better.
• Our productivity increases are due to improved skills and technology advancements.

• We are utilizing AI tools where we weren't before.

• We are using AI for some basic tasks.

• Due to staff shortages, we are trying work-arounds and procedure changes to increase productivity with some positive impact.

• We have made improvements to our processes that have driven significant productivity improvements.

• Our team is getting more cohesive.

• As revenues have dropped and costs have increased, we are not replacing workers who leave, so during peak hours less staff has to work more.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Texas Business Outlook Surveys

Data were collected November 10-18 and 47 Texas retailers responded to the survey.

NOTE: 45 responses.

NOTE: 44 responses.

NOTE: 44 responses.

NOTE: 44 responses.

NOTES: 44 responses.

NOTES: 15 responses. This question was only posed to those noting increased productivity. These calculations exclude the 6.3 percent of respondents selecting “Don’t know.”

The following was posed to those indicating increased productivity in question 5.

• We are deploying technology tools to improve our worker productivity.

• Increase of service business has improved our productivity.

• Utilization of our new ERP [enterprise resource planning] system, ChatGPT and AI have enabled our teams to focus on more opportunities. We also improved organization, cleanliness and focus on safety.

• Fewer employees are working here. The remaining employees have to do more work in the same amount of time.

• More emphasis on training and AI tools.

• We have been installing new equipment to enhance worker productivity, and we have been reaping the benefit from that.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Special Questions Comments

Survey participants are given the opportunity to submit comments. Some comments have been edited for grammar and clarity.

• The business of chemicals is arguably in its worst decline since 2008-09.

• Our business activity has increased. We are seeing more activity with urgency from our defense customers, but we are not yet sure how we will manage this if all of the programs become firm orders.

• Our labor pool is readily accessible. If we were to need to expand, we can find help as necessary.

• The decline in business activity correlates with the government shutdown.

• We will reduce hours and do our best to not lay off employees, especially with the holidays approaching. We have a small portion of our workforce that starts out as temporary labor through an outside agency. Those jobs will be cut first.
• Increased employment is driven by the addition of a new product line.

• Current employees are being evaluated for productivity, and decisions will be made on retaining them or replacing them with individuals who will be tasked with increased productivity. Current productivity is not cutting it in this market. Compensation plans for 2026 are going to include a reduction in commission rates and incentives only for high-producing individuals. We cannot have another year like 2025.

• Our aesthetic business has been significantly impacted, as reflected in the extremely low consumer confidence numbers for the next six months. I personally feel these numbers are driven by inflation fear-mongering by the media combined with the extreme volatility of tariffs and their impact, as well as unknowns as to their continuation due to lawsuits going to the Supreme Court.
• [We are seeing] higher costs, lower demand and a tough labor market.

• There is a lag on the impact of interest rate changes to the bottom line, cost of funds vs. pricing on products. The velocity of change is not the same on deposits versus loans.
• Most businesses are slightly overstaffed so that the enterprise is prepared for an increase in business.

• I tell my staff that our community appears to be undergoing a quiet period of folks moving out, so we need to prepare for hard times ahead no different than the COVID-19 pandemic. If companies wait too long to react to the disappearing act, it'll be too late.

• I am glad the government is now open. I think this will add to the business over the next six months.

• [I am concerned about] instability in the U.S. government staying open or not and the tariff debate continuing to be represented to the U.S. as a good thing instead of a tax on U.S. consumers.
• We find that our firm can be optimal with between 18 to 22 staff. With this size, we can be hands-on, make timely decisions and pivot quickly. We can cross-train our staff and be highly versatile. We work with many large firms, and regrettably, we do not find them to be as efficient.
• The use of AI in our company is increasing. However, there may be too much time and "planning" to get work done versus "getting work done."
• We think we are in a good position to start growing our company.
• AI is increasing productivity a lot for companies of all sizes.
• We hired a fifth employee to support the work we had in early 2025, which shifted our workloads so everyone could breathe a bit easier. With the anticipated slowdown of company contracts in 2026, we are nervous that we may, for the first time, have to consider cutting back on total compensation so we don't have to lay anyone off.

• A confluence of factors is compounding to have a materially negative, even existential, impact on our business. Interest rates need to decline significantly, consumer sentiment needs to turn around rapidly, government spending needs to return materially and tariffs need to be either reverted to prior levels or tariff certainty needs to be delivered. AI is not and cannot add enough value to counter the deleterious impact of these combined forces.

• Faster, smarter and cheaper used to be goals. Now we do these things just to survive.

• Tariffs are the primary cause of our margin compression this year.

• At this point, it's been such a roller coaster of a mess, with the American trucking industry in dire straits due to reduced volumes and overcapacity, that I don't even know what to say other than simply: It's dismal.

• We are adding new business, and we will hire for growth in the next six months.