U.S., Canadian Employers Cannot Find Workers, Which Has Led To Wage Inflation
U.S. and Canadian small businesses continue to struggle to find workers, and it now seems that difficulty is translating into wage and price inflation. Last week, MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) released their latest small business survey, which found:
- Nearly three-in-five small business owners (58 percent) said they are likely to hire this year, up 10 percentage points from June;
- Nearly half of small businesses (49 percent) who said that they are actively hiring said it is hard to find candidates with the skills they need; and
- 52 percent of small businesses said they are concerned about their staffing.
Small business owners also believe these problems will persist for some time. More than half, 56 percent, said they do not expect to see a return to a normal small business climate for at six to 12 months. Read the full report here.
Wages are rising fast as a result of the tight labor market. Tanya Cerniuk, head of sales for Canada at global staffing firm Adecco Group told Reuters, “I’m seeing increases in labor wage rates anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent.”