SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard(R)

Small Businesses on the Hunt for New Hires

GLENVIEW, IL--(Marketwired - February 23, 2015) - Small businesses are undergoing a major change in their approach to hiring, according to February 2015 SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard. While a year ago their primary concern was the cost of salary and benefits, it has now shifted to finding the right candidate, and they're becoming more aggressive in how they accomplish this task. 

The Scorecard features survey data with insights from small and microbusiness owners, primarily those with 1-10 employees. SurePayroll Inc. is a leader in providing online payroll to small businesses nationwide since 2000.

With the level of optimism about the economy high (77%) and coming off a profitable 2014, small business owners are looking to increase their sales and administrative staffs, with 36% going as far as to say there are no barriers to hiring right now. 

For those that do see barriers to hiring, only 29% see the cost of salary and benefits as the biggest one, compared to 59% a year ago. In 2015, 57% see finding the right candidate as the biggest barrier to hiring, compared to just 36% last year.

Last year, just 19% said they would hire a salesperson. This year it's up to 28%. And 23% said they would hire administrative staff compared to 17% in 2014.

"Business is picking up in the small business economy. That's the simple answer," said SurePayroll General Manager Andy Roe, describing the dramatic changes in how small businesses see hiring. "Last year, small business owners were still being very cautious about spending, and so naturally their main concern was the cost of hiring someone. Now revenues are up, profits are up and cost isn't nearly as much of a factor."

Small businesses have also made some big changes from a year ago in how they recruit job candidates:

• 25% are using LinkedIn compared to just 5% in 2014.
• 37% are using job websites (i.e., Careerbuilder, Monster, Indeed) compared to 21% in 2014.
• 65% are using word of mouth compared to 44% in 2014.

Survey respondents also mentioned using local newspaper ads, job fairs, internship programs and recruiting firms/headhunters significantly more than last year.