GET DAILY REPORT FREE
Though recent data for U.S. companies shows relatively few layoffs and modest new hire rates, small businesses are grappling with finding suitable candidates for vacant jobs, Inc. reports.
Nearly half of small business owners who participated in a recent National Federation of Independent Business survey say they had few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill in March.
The shortage of prospective candidates has led many survey participants to increase wages to attract more qualified candidates, which in turn has made rising labor costs a growing concern for business owners.
One third of NFIB poll respondents still had jobs open for skilled workers at the end of March and 13% were looking to fill unskilled positions. Vacancies were highest among construction, transportation and manufacturing companies.
With President Trump’s sweeping import tariffs, employers have adopted cautious staffing strategies, further increasing labor tension. Instead of luring in new employees with higher wages, a growing number of small business owners are responding to the progressively difficult search for qualified labor by coping with a smaller staff.
