Although the U.S. Labor Department reported today an overall job-market downturn in the corporate world, small businesses are in a completely different boat. According to a survey done last month by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and out today, 25% of small business owners said they have unfilled job openings - a very high percentage response to this research question from a historical perspective.
In fact, 14% of small business owners said that locating and hiring qualified labor is their No. 1 business problem and 85% of the total respondent group said that they are finding few or no qualified applicants for open positions. For small businesses then, there is a "tight labor market," according to NFIB chief economist William Dunkelberg.
Why are smaller businesses, with employees 50-20 employees or less, having such difficulties recruiting employees for open jobs when the overall labor market is experiencing the opposite problem in terms of overall job loss. According to Jim Hopkins, USA Today, "people don't want to work for small companies because they doubt they'll get the same pay, benefits, job security and career advancement" more readily available to them at larger, more corporate-like enterprises.
Shivonne Byrne, Innuity CMO
Well that is true from what I have seen. You have no upward mobility and family will always out rank you even if simply doing chores. Of course it won't matter much soon because we are in a global economy. Labor in the US has one direction to go and that is to the lowest wages on the planet, whatever they are.
I tell any young person I meet. If you don't get on top then you will end up in poverty. You have to own your own business now or you will be making the minimum wage in the future. The boomers don't understand this though, they still believe in something that doesn't exist anymore.
Posted by: Hmmm | September 14, 2007 at 05:30 AM