Struggling to find qualified workers, small businesses are focusing on employee training efforts.
According to NFIB’s July Small Business Jobs Report, 26 percent of owners reported that finding qualified workers is their single most important business problem. That’s due to the tight labor market: Unemployment has been at or below 5 percent since 2016.
To address that issue, many small business owners are doubling down on employee training efforts, according to NFIB’s Employee Training Survey. They must either train current staff to fill more skilled positions or hire candidates that require on-the-job training.
“With the country’s low unemployment rate at or below five percent, small employers face a tight labor market when recruiting and maintaining employees,” says NFIB’s Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Employee training is important to the operations of small employer firms and is often ongoing as current employees develop skills to keep up with industry operation trends or advancing to more skilled positions within the firm.”
Here’s a look at how the labor market is affecting the training and recruitment of employees at small businesses, according to NFIB’s Employee Training Survey.
