42pc of small businesses to increase employment – SFA
The director of the Small Firms Association, Patricia Callan, has released the findings of the SFA’s Autumn Employment Survey which shows that the economy has stabilised and that many firms are returning to growth and intend to create new jobs.
The survey was undertaken at the end of July and 628 of a sample of 2,000 SFA members responded. Some 47pc of respondents stated that their business was growing at present, with 43pc stating that they were maintaining their position in the marketplace and 10pc stating that their business was declining.
In relation to jobs, 42pc of firms planned to increase their employment levels, of which 7pc were increasing them significantly, with 43pc maintaining their employment levels, and 14pc were decreasing them.
“The live register data hides the fact that there is a lot of churn in the labour market, with many new jobs being created by entrepreneurial small businesses; however many more continue to be lost particularly in the traditional sectors”, commented Callan.
The biggest barriers to job creation cited by respondents were:
- Not enough business 46pc
- Cost 33pc
- Employment Law 10pc
- Lack of Skills 9pc
- Unrealistic Salary Expectations 3pc
Callan commented: “Whilst it is commonly stated that increasing employment levels is the Government’s No 1 priority and developments such as an annual ‘Action Plan for Jobs’ and the ‘Pathways to Work’ initiative are welcome and should be delivered, the fact remains that businesspeople are the ultimate job-creators and their decision on whether to keep someone in a job or to hire someone rests on the demand for their product or service, and secondly on whether they can afford to do so. We now need the Government to introduce firm policies to restore consumer confidence and to reduce the cost of employment for employers”.