US Small Businesses have Difficulty in Hiring Qualified Employees

The economy is slow and the unemployment rate is high but according to a report, 53 percent of US small-business owners said they find it difficult to find qualified employees they need. This was according to the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index poll. This is the same as in January of 2012 but below the 65 percent who were having difficulty finding qualified candidates in March 2005.

The Well Fargo/Gallup Small Business survey was made January 7 to 11, 2013 and made with a random sample of 601 small-business owners. Gallup asked the same questions in two earlier surveys in March 2005 and January 2012.

27 percent small business owners say the difficulty in hiring highly qualified employees has hurt their business over the past year. This was up from 21 percent in January 2012 and similar to the reading in March 2005.

Two in three small business owners say that they find workers through word-of-mouth. This was almost the same in 2005 and 2012. Employee referrals are the second most frequently mentioned method of hiring employees at 47 percent. These are higher than the 15 percent who say they find workers via the internet, 9 percent who use the newspaper, and 4 percent who mention recruiters.

The utilization of the internet as a major resource for hiring by the small business owners has doubled between 2005 and 2012. Their use of newspapers was reduced by half. Internet use in looking for workers dropped slightly to 15 percent in 2013 while newspaper use remained the same. Word of mouth remains the preferred method by small business owners.

Across the nation, 17 percent of business owners say they are looking for new workers. Of these, 70 percent said it was due to the increased demand for their products and services. 68 percent said it was because of an expansion of their business operations, and 64 percent because of revenues.