Small businesses are still hungry to hire, but many workers eye better pay elsewhere

Small and midsize firms remain eager to expand their workforces, but economists say many jobseekers are likely chasing higher pay at larger companies with deeper coffers.

Small and midsize firms remain eager to expand their workforces, but economists say many jobseekers are likely chasing higher pay at larger companies with deeper coffers.

The U.S. economy added 303,000 jobs last month, far more than anticipated, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That blowout report came days after private payroll processor ADP likewise found more March jobs gains than expected. But the race to staff up may be a tough one for many small employers right now.

“The challenge, especially for the smallest businesses, is that this is a competitive labor market still,” ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said during a conference call Wednesday.

While 2024 kicked off with a spate of high-profile layoffs and it’s taking longer for many jobseekers to land gigs, persistently strong labor demand means that for many employers, “it’s easier to hire, but it’s not easy to hire,” Richardson said.

While a separate BLS report found Tuesday that employers with fewer than 1,000 workers posted the lion’s share of job openings in February, filling those positions is a different matter. ADP said that smaller companies — those with workforces ranging from 20 to 49 — shed 11,000 roles last month, the only subset of employers to do so.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/small-business-hiring-pay-adp-jolts-rcna146077

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