More Small Businesses Planning on Hiring Over the Next Six Months
An increasing amount of small businesses are reporting increased liquidity while also saying that they plan to invest in growth. This includes hiring more people, according to a Capital One Small Business Survey, which is something that this economy desperately needs at the moment.
According to Capital One’s Small Business Barometer for the first quarter of 2012, small businesses are showing signs of recovery after the excruciatingly difficult 2011 year. In addition to that, Capital One’s survey examined general economic indicators as well as small businesses’ perceptions of the economic environment.
The good news that follows this is that more small businesses have reported that their financial performance is better than the year-ago period than those that have reported that it stayed the same. This is the first time this has happened in three quarters. Four out of five businesses that Capital One surveyed stated that their company’s financial performances met expectations for the quarter.
What is even better news is that nearly 15% of the small businesses across the country have stated that they have job openings, though they also state that they are unable to fill them. Capital One’s survey found that companies that operate in government, utilities and mining sectors are the most likely to have jobs that they are unable to fill.
The survey did show that more small businesses are making plans to hire new employees this quarter compared to last quarter. Nearly 34% of small businesses are planning on hiring more employees over the next six months, which is a 7% increase over the 27% recorded last quarter and 30% the same time the year before.
According to Capital One’s Jon Witter, “The latest survey results show some positive signs that more small businesses are beginning to focus on hiring, with the increase in the number of small businesses making plans to hire compared to the previous quarter at the highest level in over two years.”
In addition to that, nearly 25% of small businesses stated that they had obtained financing in the past 12 months, increasing from 19% in the fourth quarter and 23% in the year-ago quarter. According to Capital One, “The most positive outlook is tempered, however, by businesses’ concerns about cash flow and the ability to acquire new customers.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal – More Small Businesses Had Hiring Plans In Q1 – Capital One