Report Finds Small Business Hiring Slowing Down

Nearly half of small businesses (45%) are putting the brakes on hiring, according to Alignable’s July Hiring Report. Most said they can’t afford to hire staff and some even plan to lay off employees. The hiring slowdown can be attributed to mounting labor costs, skyrocketing inflation, fears of a recession, and rising interest rates.

Here are other highlights from the report: 66% of gym owners said they’re not hiring right now. The same goes for 63% in Real Estate, 58% in Transportation, 55% in the Automotive sector, and 55% of Retailers. 5% of those in Real Estate, 5% in the Automotive sector, and 3% in Retail said they’re also pursuing layoffs.

The Top 5 states most affected by the hiring slowdown are New Jersey (64%), Florida (63%), Texas (52%), Virginia (52%), and California (49%). From 3% to 14% of all small business owners in these states said they’ll be forced to lay off staff, as well. 58% of minority-owned businesses said they’ve stopped hiring, too.

48% said they believe we’re already in a recession, and another 32% predict it's coming later this year. Only 26% of small businesses said they’ve fully recovered (an all-time low), earning the same monthly revenues that they generated prior to Covid. In December 2021, that figure was 17 percentage points higher at 43%.