The quarterly US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index, presented in conjunction with MetLife, is out. As we've become used to, it's a mixed bag, according to the survey, which was conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7. Staffing levels show some signs of potential growth, but the ability to fill these roles is a concern.

Optimism remains steady, while worries grow

This quarter’s Small Business Index score is 56.6, down from last quarter (60.0 in Q2).

• ‍50% of small businesses say it is difficult to recruit and hire enough employees to fill open positions.‍
• 34% of small business owners say the U.S. economy is in good health: higher than any point since the pandemic began.‍
• 72% of small businesses say they find it difficult to manage higher costs due to inflation as they work to recover from the pandemic.

Staff levels relatively flat, with some plans for growth - if hiring can pick up speed

• Almost seven in ten (68%) small businesses report that over the past year they have retained the same size staff, which is an increase from the 57% of those who said the same in the previous quarter.
• Only 13% of small business owners say they have increased their headcount over the past year. Small businesses with less than five employees are the least likely to report an increase (8%) over the past year. 17% of all small businesses say they have reduced staff over the last year.
• 62% of all small business owners anticipate retaining current staffing levels, an increase from the previous quarter (52%).
• Half or more of small businesses across all sizes and sectors plan to retain the same size staff in the next year.
• 28% of small businesses plan to increase staff and just 6% plan to reduce staff.

Many sectors and businesses across the country are struggling to find enough workers to fill open positions. Overall, 11% of small businesses this quarter cited the lack of applicants for open jobs as their top challenge. This effect is worst in the services sector where 15% said this was their biggest concern.

Seven percent of small businesses said that their top concerns were the low quality of applicants who applied for jobs and employee retention. The manufacturing sector (11% said was top concern) and the Southern region (12% said was top concern) were more likely to say that the low quality of applicants is a top concern. Larger small business (20-499 employees) were the most likely group to say that retaining employees is their top challenge with 18% saying so.

Vaccine mandates supported, despite risks to staff levels

A majority of small businesses (61%) have already implemented or plan to implement employee vaccine mandates.

Some 43% of small-business owners say they would fire employees who refuse to comply with vaccine mandates. But just a sliver of small business owners (10%) said they’ve already done so.

Small business owners in the retail sector are the most supportive of employee vaccine mandates. Some 70% of them said they have implemented or will implement vaccine mandates, compared to some 54% of service-sector business owners, who were the least likely to do so.

“Support for vaccine mandates or regular testing rank highest for [the retail] category because their employees and customers are in close contact,” said Tom Sullivan, vice president of small business policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“While a majority of small businesses support vaccination mandates or regular testing, those same employers are worried about losing employees when vaccinations become mandatory,” Sullivan added.

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