Entrepreneur.com Daily Dose Blog

Forget Wall Street, Small Businesses are Still Hiring

small-biz-hiring.jpgDespite massive layoffs continuing to come from corporate giants, small businesses in the U.S. are recruiting new talent. Companies with fewer than 50 employees accounted for more than 50 percent of hiring in the second quarter of this year, according to a recent Beyond.com career trend analysis.

So where are these jobs? The top online job postings for small businesses in Q2 were in the fields of information technology (11.8 percent), healthcare and medical (9.5 percent) and human resources (6.7 percent).

Interestingly, nearly 75 percent of all job postings in Q2 were for candidates with zero to three years of experience. Registered nurses, software developers and sales managers with less than three years experience were the most sought-after by small companies. This should be welcomed news to recent college grads who've been struggling to beat out more experienced professionals for entry-level jobs during the recession.

Traditionally, job seekers start their search by identifying and targeting large employers in their area, according to the career report. But with more than half of job postings coming from small business in Q2, the small business sector may offer better employment opportunities.

"While many monster-sized companies in corporate America are on the sidelines as far as hiring is concerned, small businesses are showing positive signs of growth and the ability to react quickly to market trends," says Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, Inc. "It is a terrific sign that the small and entrepreneurial businesses across the country are minimizing layoffs and beginning to hire again."

To view the complete Beyond.com Career Trend Analysis Report and Industry Outlook Reports, click here.

3 Comments | | Posted under: Small Biz News
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3 Comments

I am supporting the Small business in managing their HR - New concept of HR Function Outsourcing... www.husys.net.

All my customers who are SME's are hiring and I don't see a reason to stop hiring as the business plans are moving with same focus as ever....

I am confident that the SMall business with low infrastructure, overheads would make it big league by the time the recession ends.

REgards,
Reddy GR
www.husys.net

While not yet ready to hire, a small business I just partnered in is up andd running, WWW.LAWYERCARDSONLINE.COM , and my partner Laura and I are looking in to franchising it. We feel it has all the earmarks of a succesful enterprise, broad market appeal, internet presence and sales, ad sales on the site, and physical sales in retail stores. I would see franchises as similar to hiring, as it would be putting people to work, and on their schedules and with their time restraints. We'll see, but as we grow, we'll need staff at some point too.

As a small business owner, I have hired 3 employees into full time, salaried, with benefits, strategic positions this year. All three were hired away from dead end jobs at much larger companies.

My concern is that a) I don't see any encouragement, stimulus, or incentives to keep this up and b) I might very well be sending bad news to them if DC changes cause me pain in the health care area. If I had some incentive, I'd probably hire more. I'm really worried on the health care front! We've got a great deal going with our HSA .

This is as close as it gets to a "pat on the back" that I've seen from anyone. Thanks Entrepreneur!

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