There are 33.2 million small businesses in America, which have generated nearly two-thirds of all new jobs between 1995-2021, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Yet, a persistent shortage of skilled workers is hitting them especially hard. With May being Small Business Month, I thought it could be a prime opportunity to spotlight the challenges small businesses face when hiring in today’s market, as well as the benefits of working for a smaller organization right now.

Robert Half surveyed more than 500 hiring managers at small companies (under $50M in revenue) and the results paint a picture of where small businesses need help in refining their processes:

• 89% face recruiting challenges
• 87% missed out on a good hire in the past year, the top reason being due to candidates’ salary expectations being higher than what the company was willing to pay.
• 32% have made a hiring mistake in the past year (compared to only 21% and 18% of managers at midsize and larger companies respectively)
• When it come to their most recent regrettable hire, it took 18 weeks on average to terminate the employee and restaff the position.  That’s 4.5 months of wasted time.