Small Business Update

With pandemic protocols ending and mandates lifting, life is, for all intents and purposes, returning to normal. Nowhere is this more important than in the small business sector, arguably the most affected part of the economy. With that, it’s helpful to inventory the current state of the small business sector, both locally and nationwide.

The biggest challenge facing small businesses everywhere is the inability to assemble an adequate workforce. With the increased and extended federal benefits–however necessary they may have seemed–folks received with the shutdown, the incentive to return to work just isn’t palpable. Many small business leaders are struggling to operate at full capacity or provide full-service offerings because of the hiring challenge. According to MarketWatch, as recent as the week ending June 19, initial jobless claims fell by just 7,000 to 411,000, and this was after jobless claims rose by nearly the same amount the previous week. These numbers were far worse than the projections.

In Kentucky, the outlook is not better. According to the Gleaner, Kentucky saw the largest percentage of weekly unemployment claims during the week ending May 29, a 118.4% increase. The week ending June 12, jobless claims nearly tripled the number from the week before, up to over 15,000. The silver lining, however, is that at the same time last year, as shutdowns were peaking, there were nearly 37,000 jobless claims. To build momentum, as reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader on June 24, Governor Andy Beshear announced a new incentive program in which Kentuckians who return to work by July 30 will be eligible to receive $1,500, funds available through the federal coronavirus relief. Beshear also outlined simple criteria that all recipients must meet, and related requirements of employers.

Because of the shutdown, talent acquisition is a highly complex issue. So many small business restructured or closed altogether and left many without a job, or the same job, to go back to, that matching employee skillsets to current job openings isn’t seamless. Employee demands are also higher and more divided than ever before. According to data from the Society of Human Resources Management, SHRM, roughly 60% of jobseekers are apt to decline a job if Covid protocols are not clear and present, while 55% still prefer employer mask mandates. Employer vaccine requirements, or lack thereof, are equally divisive.

Moreover, job seekers aren’t just seeking jobs, they are seeking flexibility, security, stress-free and hybrid environments, and more benefits. In short, it’s a candidate’s market, and candidates know this, so they feel more empowered than ever to require more and to say no to a less than ideal situation. Whether any of this is fair to employers, small business leaders in particular will need to be flexible, creative, and patient in order to recapture the workforce they desire and need to thrive. In the race to normalcy, as the economy move in the right direction, the small business sector, nationally and locally, must be the tortoise, not the hare.