Businesses Struggling To Find Qualified Workers

Date: November 12, 2015

Fewer Qualified Candidates Available For Job Openings, Recruiters, Business Owners Say

Business Insider reported on a new survey of human resources executives done by the Society of Human Resource Management indicated companies are having growing difficulty finding qualified applicants for available jobs. The survey found that HR executives “are particularly struggling in the services sector,” a trend that mirrors “the larger trend of the US services sector outperforming US manufacturing as of late.” The manufacturing sector is having a tougher time with recruiting as well, however, compared to “during the credit bubble in the mid-2000s,” the survey found. The survey’s hiring difficulty index for the manufacturing and services sectors combined as of May 2015 was three times higher than the average from 2005-2007. Business Insider reported that the indication from this HR survey is that “American workers could be seeing higher wages soon,” because “if HR people can’t find qualified workers on the market, then they could try and incentivize a broader field people by offering more money.”

What This Means For Small Businesses

Small business owners are increasingly struggling to find the right workers for the tasks. As the latest NFIB Small Business Jobs Report indicated, 48% of small business owners responding reported there were “few or no qualified applicants” for available job openings in October, up from 45% in September. This number has been on the rise since the economy began rebounding in 2009. Overall, NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg warned that with a “weakening” industrial sector and a small business sector not returning “to its historical role in the production of GDP and jobs,” unemployment is likely to “remain unchanged and job creation will rise to the 170,000 level, hardly a stellar performance.”

Additional Reading

NFIB has published resources to help small businesses throughout the hiring process.

Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.

Related Content: Small Business News | Labor

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