There are over 30 million small businesses in the United States, according to the Small Business Administration and small businesses comprise about 99% of all U.S. businesses.
Further, about half of all Americans (48%) are employed by small businesses, meaning almost 60 million employees in the U.S. work for a smaller company. Unfortunately, small businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to hire workers as 49% of all owners reported job openings they could not fill.
And the number of unfilled job openings far exceeds the 48-year historical average of 22%.
Here is a breakdown of what businesses need:
• 42% have openings for skilled workers
• 24% have openings for unskilled labor
• 59% of the job openings in construction are for skilled workers
• 65% of construction firms reported few or no qualified applicants
Worse is that a staggering 94% of business owners that are hiring reported finding few or no qualified applicants, including 25% that could not find a single qualified applicant.
That is the real supply chain issue.