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Small business owners continue to find it difficult to fill job openings, reports the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) in its “March 2017 Report: Small Business Optimism Index.”<\/a> The NFIB says that this is one of the tightest labor markets in the 43-year history of the survey. The organization found that 17% of small businesses cited the difficulty in finding qualified workers as their single most important business problem. Furthermore, 32% of all small businesses reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, the highest reading in the recovery.<\/p>\n In response to the scarcity of qualified workers, small businesses (26%)<\/a> reported to the NFIB that they are raising compensation to attract and retain talent. They also are addressing the shortage of prospects by offering flexible and remote work options, which is becoming a major priority for employees.<\/p>\n A study<\/a> of small business employees and owners conducted by Justworks, an all-in-one benefits, HR and payments platform, and SquareFoot, a marketplace for commercial real estate, found that 52% of employees would take a lower-paying job if it offered a greater degree of workplace flexibility. To that end, 76% of the employers surveyed believe offering such options has a big impact on their ability to hire. Plantronics survey<\/a> of a few years ago also found that offering flexible, mobile and remote work options assisted small business owners (64%) in hiring and retaining key employees.<\/p>\n While income and flexible work arrangements are important, the \u201c2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey\u201d<\/a> reports that the millennial workforce is looking at a number of other factors when considering job opportunities, including:<\/p>\nKnow what else employees want<\/h4>\n
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Offer perks that win over candidates<\/h4>\n