Small Businesses Looking To Hire But Struggling To Find Employees

There’s good news and bad news for small business operators, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. More than half (56%) of small business owners reported trying to hire in February, an increase of five points from January. But ninety-one percent of those trying to hire reported few or no “qualified” applicants for their open positions, a figure up five points in February. Still, the report says, a net 18% of owners reported they are planning to create new jobs in the next three months.

“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the labor market, especially when some parts of Main Street are still closed or restricted due to state and local mandates,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “It is important that elected officials keep their attention on the small business economic recovery and ensure those small businesses are getting the help they need.”

Other findings from the report:

• Small businesses increased employment by 0.34 workers per firm on average over the past few months, following good readings in December and January. 
• Forty percent of owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up seven points from last month.
• Thirty-three percent of businesses have openings for skilled workers (up five points) and 16% have openings for unskilled labor (up four points).
• Twenty-six percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions (unchanged) and 25% reported none (up five points).

Click here to view the entire NFIB Jobs Report.