{"id":9714,"date":"2022-12-30T15:35:37","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T19:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=9714"},"modified":"2022-12-30T15:35:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T19:35:37","slug":"small-business-owners-are-upbeat-about-2023-despite-hiring-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=9714","title":{"rendered":"Small business owners are upbeat about 2023 despite hiring woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
While labor shortages are not quite as bleak as earlier in the year, small businesses are still not catching a break.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n

\u201cMany small business owners continue to face big challenges hiring and retaining employees,\u201d Holly Wade, executive director of the\u00a0NFIB Research Center<\/a>, told Yahoo Money.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Small companies, those with fewer than 250 employees, accounted for nearly 80% of the 10.3 million job openings in the most recent\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to an analysis by Aneta Markowska, chief financial economist at Jefferies. The small-business sector has 3 million more job openings than before the pandemic, versus large companies, which have about 250,000 more.<\/p>\n

Read on Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a very small retail operation selling\u00a0handcrafted\u00a0<\/a>Native American art and prior to the pandemic, it was a challenge to find qualified employees who had intangible qualities such as an appreciation and understanding of art and the creative process,\u201d John Krena, owner of\u00a0Four Winds Gallery<\/a>\u00a0in Pittsburgh, Pa, told Yahoo Money. \u201cBut I always had a file of applications from people desiring to work at the gallery. In today\u2019s environment, that is non-existent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the hiring difficulties and persistent inflation, small business operators like Krena have a surprisingly optimistic outlook for 2023 \u2014 even when it comes to finding new workers.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Four<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Four Winds Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (Photo Credit: Evan Sanders)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Competing for new hires with larger companies is difficult<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While small firms might be able to compete with big corporations for new workers on wages, they can\u2019t go head to head on total compensation, including benefits such as\u00a0employer-provided retirement plans<\/a>, and health insurance.<\/p>\n

Consider this: Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $22,463 this year, according to the most recent KFF\u00a0survey\u00a0<\/a>of 2,188 non-federal public and private firms. But workers at small firms contributed on average $7,556 a year to those premiums, or $2,000 more than versus employees of large firms who paid $5,580.<\/p>\n

Three in ten workers (31%) of covered workers at small firms are in a plan where they must contribute more than half of the premium for family coverage, compared to 7% of covered workers at large firms. And the average deductible for covered workers is much higher at small firms than large firms ($2,543 vs. $1,493).<\/p>\n

To woo new workers, owners are increasing wages for applicants, Wade said. That\u2019s what Bergen Giordani, co-founder with her daughter Morgan Giordani Reamer of\u00a0One Hot Cookie<\/a>\u00a0in Youngstown, Ohio, did.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently our starting wages are on average $2 higher per hour than in 2020,\u201d Giordani told Yahoo Money. \u201cEven with this higher starting wage, we\u2019re having trouble retaining new workers. In the past three months, we have hired 4 new full-time hourly employees and only one remains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many small business operators have also \u201clowered the minimum qualifications for positions, dedicating time and resources on internal training for new employees, are offering more full-time staff overtime and increasing the hours of part-time staff where possible,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"One<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Bergen Giordani (l) reviewing orders with manager, Gina DeMain. (Photo courtesy of Bergen Giordani)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Keeping the faith<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hiring troubles aside, small business owners are hopeful about the new year.<\/p>\n

Two-thirds of small business owners with less than 100 employees expect revenue to increase next year, while more than half plan to expand their business, according to a recent\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0from Bank of America.Just over three-quarters said their business is prepared to survive a recession.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall business owners are still grappling with economic pressures from inflation and supply chain issues, on top of an anticipated recession, which could impact the cost of their goods and services as well as their hiring and expansion plans in 2023,\u201d Sharon Miller, president, small business, head of specialty banking and lending at Bank of America, told Yahoo Money. \u201cHowever, most entrepreneurs are confident their business is equipped to survive a recession and are optimistic about their 2023 business prospects.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re \u201cplanning new marketing initiatives, implementing tech upgrades and spending their time and energy tackling the operational challenges within their control amidst ongoing market pressures,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n