FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Patrick Connor, Washington State Director, patrick.connor@nfib.org, 
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org 

OLYMPIA, Wash., May 2, 2025—To no surprise, small business owners continue to struggle with finding qualified employees, according to the latest Jobs Report released yesterday by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a problem that has plagued them since the pandemic. 

In the latest measurement, 34% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported positions they could not find employees to fill in April. A big economic question now is, will actions by the recently adjourned Washington State Legislature compound the problem. 

“The state Legislature remained largely indifferent to Main Street’s ongoing workforce troubles,” said Patrick Connor, state director for NFIB in Washington. “Rather than lending a helping hand, lawmakers this year passed several bills that will make it more difficult and costly to find and maintain qualified workers. Worse yet, a new sales tax on staffing services will put the prospect of hiring short-term employees for seasonal positions, or as temporary replacements for workers on leave, even further out of reach for many small employers. These short-sighted policies explain why Washington small businesses continue to shed jobs despite the strong performance of our tech sector.” 

NFIB’s Jobs Report is released the first Thursday of every month. It is a national survey of NFIB-member small-business owners, not broken down by state. The typical NFIB member employs between one and nine people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year.   

From NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg 

“With qualified workers in short supply, job openings stayed solid on Main Street in March. As spring progresses, fewer small business owners plan to create new positions, but they are looking to fill current vacancies.” 

Highlights from the Latest Jobs Report

• Job openings were the highest in the construction, transportation, and manufacturing sectors. Job openings in the wholesale industry rose 16 points from the prior month to 36%.
   

• A seasonally adjusted net 13% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, up one point from March.
   

• Seasonally adjusted, a net 33% of small business owners reported raising compensation in April, down five points from March.
   

• A net 17% (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, down two points from March and the lowest since March 2021. 

Keep up with the latest Washington state small-business news at www.nfib.com or on X @NFIB_WA or on Facebook @NFIB.WA

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For more than 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

NFIB Washington
111 – 21st Avenue Southwest
Olympia, WA 98501
360-786-8675
NFIB.com
Twitter: @NFIB_WA
Facebook: @NFIB.WA