Small Biz View: Not enough workers is their woe
Job shortage? It's a worker shortage that's vexing small-business owners, says the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB is hearing complaints from its 600,000 members that the problem is not enough workers, or at least not the right ones. Some 23 percent of small-business owners who responded to a recent NFIB survey said they have open positions they're unable to fill right now. The April number is up from 21 percent a year ago and 17 percent two years ago. That means for many small businesses–the average NFIB member firm has six to nine employees–that hiring is slowly but steadily becoming more difficult. "Small firms don't have as much of a cycle as large companies do, but when they do, they usually peak before big companies do," says Bruce Phillips, a senior economist with the NFIB Research Foundation.
The problems range from mismatched skill sets to an inability to compete with larger firms on wages and benefits. Also, small firms tend to be fussier in hiring than big firms, says Phillips, because "it's like adding a new family member."
A shortage of skilled carpenters has frustrated Joe Bohm, president of Horizon Builders, for some time. "Over the last few years, it's become very, very hard to find carpenters to do the work we need," he says. Horizon, a high-end home builder in the Washington metro area, has five to 10 job openings, ranging in pay from $14 to $35 per hour. "The plumbers and electricians we use have the same problems," says Bohm.
Even so, the issue hasn't yet reached the critical stage. In November 2000, four months before the start of the last recession, 35 percent of small businesses surveyed reported difficulty finding suitable hires. The organization's May survey numbers come out Tuesday. Alan Greenspan, are you listening?