Nearly 1 Out Of 2 Small Business Owners Can't Fill Positions

The NFIB’s monthly jobs report for November is out and it finds nearly half of small business operators can’t fill job openings.

Small business owners continue to struggle with hiring and 29% of business owners reported labor quality as their top business problem in November, a 48-year record high. Ten percent of owners cited labor costs as their top problem. Forty-eight percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period.

“Unfortunately, the tight labor market has not eased for small business owners,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Unfilled positions and labor quality remain the biggest challenges for small business owners as they work to get back to pre-crisis levels. Owners have been increasing compensation to record-high levels to attract the right employees to their business.”

Overall, 60% of owners reported hiring or trying to hire in November, down two points from October. Small business owners’ plans to fill open positions remain at record high levels, with a seasonally adjusted net 25% planning to create new jobs in the next three months, down one point from October but still the third-highest reading in the 48-year history of the survey.

Ninety-three percent of those owners hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for the position they were trying to fill. Thirty percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions, and 26% reported none.