The labor shortage continues to hinder Main Street as 43% (seasonally adjusted) of all small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up three points from August.
“Small business owners have spent the first three quarters of 2023 working to recruit and retain qualified employees for their businesses, but it still remains a top challenge,” said Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB Chief Economist. “Owners continue to raise compensation to attract the right employees.”
Though state-specific data is unavailable, NFIB State Director Jerrod Shouse urged the State Legislature to keep small business owners and the challenges they face in mind:
“All year, Oklahoma job creators have stood in the gap of their open positions all while trying to recruit top talent and retain their employees. This challenge is compounded by inflation, which continues to put pressure on prices. The Special Session that was called earlier this week was an opportunity to further reduce the tax burden on Main Street. Our members are hopeful lawmakers will put their differences aside and prioritize the well-being of our state’s economy.”
The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top business operating problem remains elevated at 23%. Labor cost reported as the single most important problem for business owners increased one point to 9%, four points below the highest reading of 13% in December 2021.
Owners’ plans to fill open positions remain elevated, with a seasonally adjusted net 18% planning to create new jobs in the next three months. Overall, 61% of owners reported hiring or trying to hire in September, up two points from August. Ninety-three percent of those hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Thirty percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions and 27% reported none.
Seasonally adjusted, a net 36% of owners reported raising compensation. A net 23% of owners plan to raise compensation in the next three months, down three points from August.
Thirty-seven percent of owners have job openings for skilled workers and 18% have job openings for unskilled labor. When asked about the overall change in employment at the firm, 10.8% reported higher and 12.2% reported lower. Overall, small firms have not been successful at adding to employment growth, and the major problem appears to be a lack of qualified applicants, even in the services sector which requires little technical training to fill a position.
