It’s Getting Harder to find Work in Small Business

In recent years, the amount of well-paying small business jobs available on the market is dwindling, forcing labourers to move into large companies and corporations for employment opportunities. That’s not to say that it’s impossible, but your chances of succeeding are much lower, meaning that you have to work much harder to secure employment. There are several reasons for this, all which have to do with the changing times and job market as their basis.

First of all, small businesses simply aren’t hiring as much as they used to, lowering their overall employee numbers drastically since the 80’s and 90’s. This is due in part to the automation of many aspects of labour, along with a huge push for non-employment labor arrangements. This means that contract labor is playing a much bigger part in small businesses, because contract labor requires not only a smaller overhead, but also less training, less reliance on company commitment, and most importantly, less demanding labor wages.

But asides from their lower numbers of employees, these businesses are also employing fewer workers, an often overlooked fact by those touting the ‘growth’ of small business. A significant factor for this is the push to be involved with large business corporations, and the constant framing of small businesses as ‘family businesses.

Whether because of the smaller number of employees, or simply because of the traditional small business model, on average wages have gotten worse amongst small businesses, barely increasing since the 90’s after accounting for inflation.

This has all lead to a decrease in provided benefits at small businesses, making large companies with well-developed benefits more appealing employment options. The number of small businesses offering retirement and vacation options has continued to decreases, with no shortage of large companies offering them. Health insurance is an even bigger concern; not only are less employers directly covering the coverage themselves, but many small businesses have stopped providing healthcare altogether, arguing that it’s simply too expensive and too heavy for them to carry. The provision of health care coverage seems to go hand in hand with the number of employees, and as one drops over time, so does the other.

The rising rate at which larger companies are acquiring employees has led to a significant pay gap between large and small businesses, with workers generally being compensated less at small businesses than those in large companies. Such a decrease in wage growth, combined with fewer jobs being created in small business has caused an increasing number of private sector payrolls, putting less money into the hands of family owned and local small businesses.

The job market overall hasn’t been growing all that much, with less and less companies hiring less and less people. Small businesses are hiring only a fraction of what their corporate counterparts are, keeping the already slow job market even more stagnant. Combined with their lower benefits, lower wages, and smaller hiring opportunities, it’s simply much more difficult to find a job in the small business sector, albeit a successful one.