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Small Businesses Have Big Job Openings, But Can’t Fill Them
Investors Business Daily ^ | 5/10/2016 | ED CARSON

Posted on 05/12/2016 4:21:04 AM PDT by expat_panama

Small-business owners were more upbeat in April, with job openings matching a cycle high, but finding qualified applicants remains a major problem, according to the National Federation of Independent Business on Tuesday.

NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index rose 1 point last month to 93.6. This ends a three-month slide to a two-year low in March. The gauge remains below historically normal levels.

A net 11% of smaller firms plan to add staff, up from March’s 9%,...

...46% of small businesses said they had few or no qualified applications...

,,,24% of NFIB respondents said in April that they planned to increase compensation...

...18% of firms expect the economy to get worse vs. 17% in March. A net 1% see sales rising vs. unchanged before. But actual sales have only been positive in one month in the last four years.

A few more businesses (a net 8%, up 2 points) say it’s a good time to expand, though the share of respondents planning capital spending was steady at 25%.

(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: economy; employment; investing
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econ90-050916Here are the NFIB numbers mentioned, the question now being which trend is the future. 

My take is probably the same as yours, that the future "depends"...

1 posted on 05/12/2016 4:21:04 AM PDT by expat_panama
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To: expat_panama

Why work when slugs can make more money under government entitlement programs that are so loose that almost anyone can live off the taxpayer?


2 posted on 05/12/2016 4:22:39 AM PDT by From The Deer Stand (Alka)
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To: expat_panama

There is a person for every job is in the USA at the correct market wage. There is a wage gap and not a qualification gap.


3 posted on 05/12/2016 4:25:21 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: expat_panama

Nobody wants to commit to hiring somebody, if the economy I going to take another dip.


4 posted on 05/12/2016 4:27:36 AM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: central_va

It may be a qualification gap. E.g., they need a welder, but people these days don’t learn those kinds of skills.

Also, from what I remember of job postings, they ask for a large number of things to see what they get. I suspect a lot of people look at those and go, “Oh I don’t meet those qualifications, I can’t work there”. A friend of mine got a job where one of the quals listed was a PhD, but he only had a bachelors. He decided to apply anyway and it turned out the company did had the opening for 8 months and was close to modifying their qualifications.


5 posted on 05/12/2016 4:29:57 AM PDT by ronnietherocket3 (Mary is understood by the heart, not study of scripture.)
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To: expat_panama

It’s a double whammy:

1. Diversity - The push to hire people just because they’re not white—even if they can’t do the job.
2. Skills - Trying to acclimate a group of young people who are: a) entitled [want $15/hr or more to start], b) have short attention spans [for anything other than their smart phone] and c) often lack the discipline to learn.


6 posted on 05/12/2016 4:30:59 AM PDT by rbg81 (Truth is stranger than fiction)
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To: ronnietherocket3

Bull, I can find a welder at $100.00/hr tomorrow. Can I find one for $10.00/hr, no. So the trick is to find the price point between $10 and $100 that attracts the qualified welder. It isn’t rocket surgery.


7 posted on 05/12/2016 4:31:55 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: central_va

Actually the trick is to find the welder at a price that still keeps you competitive. Unless you somehow have a business that has no competitors.


8 posted on 05/12/2016 4:36:47 AM PDT by shelterguy
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To: central_va

Then someone else needs a welder. The supply doesn’t increase when one welder moves from company A to company B.

You need to think macro and not micro.


9 posted on 05/12/2016 4:38:01 AM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: central_va
...a person for every job is in the USA at the correct market wage...

That's part, and another part is how long do we want to wait to fill the position, and still another factor is how much do we want to look.  Let's face it, current market conditions are in turmoil and everyone's got complaints.

10 posted on 05/12/2016 4:38:43 AM PDT by expat_panama
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To: expat_panama

Gee, maybe they should train people for some of these jobs if existing qualified applicants are lacking.


11 posted on 05/12/2016 4:40:26 AM PDT by Utmost Certainty
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To: shelterguy

Like the government?


12 posted on 05/12/2016 4:40:27 AM PDT by 4Liberty (We can't say 'property' with Rights, but we must say 'social' (collectivism) with "Justice.")
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To: expat_panama
This is ridiculous.

Let's say I have $25,000 in cash and I want a brand new 2 door German coupe with leather and all the options. I will ONLY pay $25,000 that's it. The Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW dealers all turn me down and have nothing for me at that price.

Then I go public complain there are no German cars available. There is a shortage of qualified cars out there.

Stupid.

13 posted on 05/12/2016 4:43:23 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: 4Liberty

I do a lot of construction work for the government. They tell me what I must pay my people according to their prevailing wage table. The LEAST I can pay a common laborer in Minneapolis is over 48 dollars per hour.


14 posted on 05/12/2016 4:44:12 AM PDT by shelterguy
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To: expat_panama

What qualifications are these small businesses looking for?


15 posted on 05/12/2016 4:50:29 AM PDT by Arm_Bears (Rope. Tree. Politician/Journalist. Some assembly required.)
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To: central_va

Your hypothesis is that there are qualified welders, programmers, engineers, pilots, etc. out there but that no one is willing to pay the right price in order to get them to work for them.

As opposed to a hypothesis that too many people in this country are unqualified for the jobs that are open.


16 posted on 05/12/2016 4:53:17 AM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: 1010RD; A Cyrenian; abb; Abigail Adams; abigail2; AK_47_7.62x39; Alcibiades; Aliska; aposiopetic; ..

A very good morning to you!  Yesterday saw stocks getting knocked down a percent in rising volume and today's stock futures are positively schitzoid --these futures contracts foretell a -1.08% drop while these others are glowing about huge gains to come.  The markets may be uncertain and indecisive but I don't know and I may change my mind on that.

Metals are stable and boring though, current prices are basing while futures trades are going up +1.62%.

Reports on unemployment claims coming out any minute:

8:30 AM Initial Claims
8:30 AM Continuing Claims
8:30 AM Import Prices ex-oil
8:30 AM Export Prices ex-ag.
10:30 AM Natural Gas Inventories

If anyone needs me I may be over at a related thread: Factory Workers Are The New Burger Flippers, Study Shows.

17 posted on 05/12/2016 4:55:25 AM PDT by expat_panama
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To: central_va

Damn man...... that is right out of the communist manefesto

you outed your self


18 posted on 05/12/2016 4:57:37 AM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;+12, 73, ....)
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To: Arm_Bears
What qualifications are these small businesses looking for?

That didn't seem to be in the article, but my personal guess is that positions are going vacant because applicants are not willing to show up on time and they're not willing to work during office hours. 

Felony rap sheets and legal/immigration status may also be a factor....

19 posted on 05/12/2016 5:00:13 AM PDT by expat_panama
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To: bert
...right out of the communist manefesto...

Don't get him started on that, now we're going to hear from him how much he prefers Gov't run healthcare.

20 posted on 05/12/2016 5:02:35 AM PDT by expat_panama
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