A report released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) shows that small businesses struggled to fill job vacancies during the first month of 2025.
According to the NFIB's January jobs report, 35% of small business owners said that they could not fill job openings with their respective companies.
This statistic has remained unchanged since Dec. 2024.
The Hiring Struggle in Numbers
The NFIB report shows that 52% of small business owners reported that they were hiring or attempting to hire during the first month of 2025. However, 24% of these business owners said that they only got a few qualified applicants for open positions.
Even worse, 23% of hiring small business owners said that they did not have even just one qualified applicant for their vacancies.
According to the report, the construction, manufacturing, and transportation sectors had the most prevalent job openings during Jan. 2025.
In contrast, agriculture and finance reported the least number of vacancies.
Skilled Labor Is Still in Demand
Despite the reported struggles in hiring, the NFIB report shows that skilled labor is still in demand. In fact, 29% of businesses have reported that they have openings for skilled workers.
The challenges in hiring do not seem to deter business owners from opening more vacancies for interested applicants either. 18% of surveyed business owners still plan on opening more vacancies in the next three months.
However, labor quality and labor costs are still top concerns for business owners when it comes to hiring. Despite these, 33% of small business owners reported that they increased compensation last month in order to both attract and retain employees.
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