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Small businesses play an important role in the United States labor market, and they are often considered the “lifeblood” of the U.S. economy. They employ 47.1% of all U.S. workers and contribute to 41% of all U.S. economic activity. SCORE’s latest “The Megaphone of Main Street” data report series delves into the story behind the impact of COVID-19 on small business hiring and the challenges small business owners face in their search for employees.

Key research findings include:

• Employment challenges currently rank highest among business owners. “Hiring the right talent” is the number one challenge (63.4% of business owners), overshadowing “finding customers,” followed by “retaining or motivating employees.” In 2017, financing challenges were ranked higher.
• Two-thirds of business owners (61.2%) report having unfilled job openings within the past six months.
• 89.5% of business owners see hiring new employees as somewhat or very difficult. Once employees are hired, 69.9% have difficulty with onboarding and 62.9% cite troubles with retention.
• Pressure to increase wages to stay competitive now impacts twice as many business owners (54.7%) compared with 2017 survey results (26.2%).
• 70.3% more business owners cite lack of health care benefits as a barrier to hiring, compared with 2017 survey results.
• Despite recent challenges, 67.2% of business owners surveyed report feeling optimistic about the next six months. This shows little decline compared to 2017 survey results showing 69% optimism.
• 56% of business owners plan to hire employees in the next six months.
• 60.5% of small businesses have increased wages to attract and retain employees.
• 43.6% of business owners now use job posting sites with growing success. Still, “word of mouth” from other employees (56%) remains the top way to attract new employees.
• When asked what resources would be most helpful for small business success, owners cite better health care options (51.1%) first, followed by loan forgiveness or debt relief (49.9%) and access to capital (41.5%).
• 55.1% of small business owners expect hiring challenges to continue through 2022 and beyond.

Download SCORE's The Megaphone of Main Street: Small Business Jobs Report

Download Infographic #1 Small Business Jobs Report Part 1: The Struggle to Hire

Download Infographic #2 Small Business Jobs Report Part 2: Help Needed for Recovery