---
title: "Report Finds More Than Half Of Small Business Owners Can't Find Qualified Workers"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/26d7bebb-121f-4158-ab25-45cadcfc69c1
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/articles/report_finds_more_than_half_of_small_business_owners_cant_find_qualified_wo.html
author: "Kerry Pipes"
category: "General"
topics: ["Operations"]
published: 2021-10-13T08:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:25:40.839Z
image: https://imgs.franchising.com/art/articles/6305_plate.jpg
---

# Report Finds More Than Half Of Small Business Owners Can't Find Qualified Workers

**TL;DR:** A report by NFIB found that 51% of small business owners struggle to find qualified employees, leading to increased labor costs and price increases for customers. The number of unfilled job openings exceeds the 48-year historical average of 22%.

*By Kerry Pipes, originally published in Franchising.com on 2021-10-13. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/articles/report_finds_more_than_half_of_small_business_owners_cant_find_qualified_wo.html).*

## Story

More than half (51%) of small business owners continue to struggle to find qualified employees, says NFIB’s monthly jobs report for September. That’s up a point from the August report. Incredibly, the number of unfilled job openings continues to exceed the 48-year historical average of 22%.

“More and more small business owners are struggling to find workers for their open positions,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “For most small employers, labor costs are the largest operating outlay and owners will be compelled to pass those costs on to their customers by raising prices.” Small business owners say they have had to raise compensation (42%) or plan to raise it in the next three months (30%).

Both those numbers are up since the August report. Here are some other findings from the latest report: -Two-thirds (67%) of small business operators said they hired or tried to hire in September, up one point from August -Small business owners’ plans to fill open positions remain at record high levels, with a seasonally adjusted net 26% planning to create new jobs in the next three months -Ninety-two percent of those employers hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Thirty-four percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions and 28% reported none -Twelve percent of owners cited labor costs as their top business problem, up two points and a 48-year record high.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- General (sector)
- Kerry Pipes (person)
- small business (topic)
- labor costs (topic)
- price increases (topic)
- qualified workers (topic)

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Originally reported by Kerry Pipes, Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/articles/report_finds_more_than_half_of_small_business_owners_cant_find_qualified_wo.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/26d7bebb-121f-4158-ab25-45cadcfc69c1).