Posted on 11/12/2025 10:27:01 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In a shifting labor landscape, small businesses are feeling the pulse of the economy as they navigate notably mixed job market signals. According to the latest NFIB Jobs Report for August 2025, 32% of small business owners report unfilled job openings, marking a slight decline from July. This trend reflects broader challenges in finding qualified candidates, a concern that continues to weigh heavily on the minds of business owners.
Small businesses are often the cornerstone of the economy, yet they find themselves grappling with persistent staffing issues. While 32% indicates progress since pandemic lows, it continues to illustrate the labor market’s tightness. “While the economy appears to be doing well, small businesses are scaling back on job openings,” noted NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Small business owners with job openings are still looking for qualified applicants, many citing labor quality as their single most important problem.”
The report shows a nuanced picture of the workforce needs in small enterprises. 21% of owners ranked labor quality as their top concern—consistent with the previous month. Interestingly, 28% have openings for skilled positions, reflecting a drop of 1 point, while the need for unskilled labor has seen a slight increase with 13% reporting such openings, up 1 point. These numbers indicate a complex demand for various skill sets.
Currently, 53% of small business owners reported hiring or attempting to hire in August, down 4 points from July. Among those, a significant 43%—a whopping 81% of those actively hiring—reported finding few or no qualified applicants, a slight decrease from the previous month. Breaking down these numbers, 26% of business owners are struggling with a lack of qualified candidates, while 17% indicate they have found none at all.
Across sectors, the demand for labor varies significantly. The construction, manufacturing, and transportation industries are witnessing the highest levels of job openings, while the finance and wholesale sectors lag behind. This disparity emphasizes the importance of tailoring recruitment strategies to meet the unique demands of specific industries.
Despite current complications, optimism persists among small business owners regarding job creation. A net 15% plan to expand their workforce in the coming three months, marking a third consecutive month of growth in this area. This upward trend in hiring intentions aligns with the broader economic recovery but highlights the necessity for businesses to rethink their recruitment and retention strategies.
Another crucial aspect for business owners to consider is compensation. The NFIB report indicates that a net 29% of owners raised compensation in August, which is an uptick of 2 points from July. Looking forward, 20% plan to further increase compensation in the next three months, up 3 points over the same period. This development underscores the competitive labor market, as businesses vie for talent amid rising wage pressures.
While lower labor costs had previously been reported as a primary concern for 9% of business owners, this figure has now decreased slightly, indicating shifts in business expenses that may allow for more flexibility in hiring and compensation strategies.
For small business owners, these findings offer both insights and challenges. Understanding the evolving landscape of labor demands will be pivotal to formulating successful hiring and operational strategies. Balancing the pressures of compensation, recruitment, and ensuring quality hires will require agility and foresight.
As business owners ponder these insights, they will need to invest in innovative hiring practices, competency-based assessments, and perhaps even employee development programs that align with their strategic goals. Exploring partnerships with local educational institutions, participating in job fairs, or leveraging technology for recruitment can help bridge the gap between available jobs and the talent supply.
The path forward remains complex, with an optimistic outlook tempered by hiring hurdles. Small business owners who are proactive in addressing these dynamics may find themselves better positioned to thrive.
For more information, you can view the full NFIB Jobs Report here.
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We need Americans with good work ethics. Hard to find amongst our young these days apparently.
Sounds like the Pedo Joe Biden Illegal Alien Slave Laborers aren’t into being slave laborers for the gringos. They ran away from Democrat Socialism South of the Border in search of “a better life.” You gringos can cut your own lawns and clean your own toilets.
It has been reported that Trump has brought in trillions of dollars worth of potential investments from foreign companies into the USA. Many of them require highly skilled people ( semiconductors, auto mechanics, infrastructure, etc. ).
It remains to be seen whether we DO have enough of these skilled people locally to fill the job openings when they come.
“qualified candidates”
Read: candidates requiring lower compensation, i.e. foreigners on H1B visas.
The left has had 60 years to dumb down our education system. Its going to take work to build it back up.
Have any of those investments translated to jobs yet? This article is crap. More excuses from the CoC through the media to import third world trash for US skilled labor.
“The construction, manufacturing, and transportation industries are witnessing the highest levels of job openings.”
All industries staffed largely by illegals.
RE: candidates requiring lower compensation, i.e. foreigners on H1B visas.
I’ve been asking myself this question but I don’t think this (i.e. COST ) is entirely true or the main reason.
Contrary to popular belief, H-1B workers are not cheap labor. Employers face over $33,000 in legal and government fees for each initial H-1B petition and extension. They must also pay the prevailing wage, which is often comparable to or higher than U.S. counterparts. Employers are legally required to pay H-1B workers the same wage as U.S. workers in similar roles. Violations can trigger audits and penalties.
See here:
https://www.visaverge.com/news/h-1b-visa-fees-impact-on-hiring-workers-for-fy-2025/
The major reason I think is TO MAINTAIN CONTROL. This is especially true of highly skilled, brain intensive work. H-1B workers’ visas are tied to their employer, making them less likely to negotiate aggressively or leave.
In 2023, a major tech firm laid off 6,500 U.S. workers while sponsoring 5,400 H-1B visas, highlighting how the system can be used to suppress wages and sidestep employment protections.
The real incentive is control, not cost. H-1B workers are less likely to unionize, demand raises, or leave abruptly due to their immigration status.
See here:
My conclusion is this isn’t just about wages—it’s about labor flexibility, strategic control, and regulatory arbitrage.
What are they paying.? Just for fun I keep an eye on similar manufacturing jobs. Shops will advertise open machinist jobs for $20 an hour when the grocery store is paying $24. Even big companies like General Dynamics are offering laughable salaries for highly skilled and experienced engineers. Companies need to pay more, or train internally and demand less skilled employees.
Plus, with marijuana being so ubiquitous now, how many pass a drug test?
RE: Have any of those investments translated to jobs yet?
President Trump has announced trillions in pledged foreign and corporate investments, but independent analyses suggest the actual new inflows are closer to $2–4 trillion, with many commitments still unverified or pre-existing.
PLEDGES ARE NOT ACTUAL JOBS — YET.
Some pledges include expansions of existing operations or long-term infrastructure projects that predate Trump’s second term.
There’s no independent audit or standardized tracking of these pledges, making it difficult to confirm timelines, actual disbursements, or job creation.
Some foreign investment may come with concessions—tariff relief, regulatory changes, or geopolitical trade-offs.
This is a classic case of headline-scale pledges vs. implementation reality.
AND NOTE: Most foreign investment-related jobs take 12 to 24 months to materialize after announcements. Some high-tech or infrastructure projects may take even longer due to permitting, construction, and regulatory delays.
According to the Reshoring Initiative’s 2024–2025 report, actual hiring from foreign direct investment (FDI) and reshoring efforts typically lags behind announcements by one to two years. See here:
https://reshorenow.org/content/pdf/2024-1Q2025_RI_DATA_Report.pdf
Consider what is needed:
* Site selection and permitting: Especially for manufacturing, chip fabs, or energy infrastructure.
• Construction and equipment installation: Can take 12–36 months depending on scale.
• Workforce training and onboarding: Especially for advanced manufacturing or AI infrastructure roles.
For instance, NVIDIA’s $500B AI supercomputer manufacturing: Scheduled over four years, with phased hiring and facility buildout. Micron’s $200B memory chip expansion: Expected to create thousands of jobs, but full deployment spans multiple years. Apple’s $600B advanced manufacturing pledge: Includes workforce training and supply chain reshoring, likely unfolding over several phases.
So, if you’re looking for such jobs to appear within 6 months, DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH.
RE: Companies need to pay more, or train internally and demand less skilled employees.
Well, newly elected NYC Mayor Mamdani is going to FORCE that to happen — He wants a $30/hr. minimum wage. :)
It’s hard to employ someone when the schools are turning out barely functional illiterates. And those illiterates also want 25.00 an hour.
Thank you legalized marijuana.
It was a rhetorical question because the article lists them as though they are desperate for skilled workers for these non-existent jobs.
Just another article trashing American workers and dipshits on this site (not you), joining in on the trashing.
You’ve got that exactly wrong. I’m in the trades. Do you wanna find someone who’s gonna work? Chances are they don’t speak much English. The ones from Central America work their asses off.
Are you an employer? Have you tried hiring an American worker these days? It ain’t easy.
Too much wacky weed.
In all seriousness, we need to get rid of all kinds of welfare. The young people will learn how to have good work ethic.
That’s fine but when one adult working male shows up with a wife, three kids and at least one set of parents and a few cousins the way Pedo Joe’s crop of 20 million invaders did, the deal isn’t very good one for America. The taxpayers are dishing out more money for the family to survive than anything the one working mail is providing. It used to be one working male would sneak in to work and send the money home. Biden’s freeloaders brought the whole extended family in buses, vans and pickup caravans. The border patrol carried them all across the river.
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