With the economy at its strongest point in years, small-business owners have played a large role in getting the country back on a productive track. After all, more than 99 percent of companies in the U.S. are small and employ nearly half of the country’s workforce, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Perhaps due to being in better shape, small businesses pulled back on hiring activity in February, newly released figures suggest. But their search for superior talent hasn’t ended.
According to the latest IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch – a metric developed by capital management firm Paychex – hiring slipped last month, with the index falling to 99.77, a 1 percent dip from the same period last year. What employers spent on wages also dropped, with the 12-month growth rate reaching 2.67 percent from January’s 2.74 percent.
Martin Mucci, president and CEO at Paychex, said it’s clear help wanted ads are growing fewer and farther between, but business are still on the hunt.
“As the growth in jobs stabilizes because of challenges in finding qualified employees, we expect to see business owners making positive changes to wages and benefits to recruit and retain top quality talent,” Mucci explained.”
The low unemployment rate is making the recruitment more difficult, as nearly 60 percent of companies say open positions stay that way for 12 weeks or more, based on separate polling conducted by CareerBuilder.
Top-tier talent look for businesses that invest in the company’s furtherance. At Growth Capital, we help provide the funds that can be used for these investments, whether it’s to modernize the facility, generate cash flow or purchase better equipment.
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