Scientific Opinion Poll: Michigan Small Business Owners Hiring, but Struggle to Find Right Candidates

For Immediate Release: 
Thursday, November 13, 2014

Michigan small business owners are hiring, but those doing so are having hard time finding candidates with right background; support programs such as apprentice and internships to identify and increase number of qualified workers

A scientific opinion poll released today shows a majority of Michigan small business owners are hiring, but are having a hard time finding qualified candidates and support several solutions to help address the state and the nation̢??‰?s job skills gap.

The poll, conducted Sept. 5-18, 2014, by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on behalf of Small Business Majority, found a majority of Michigan small business owners have hired new employees in the past three years, but say finding job candidates with the right background has been the biggest barrier they face to hiring new employees. More than four in 10 small employers (43 percent) have difficulty in finding candidates with the right kind of job experience. What̢??‰?s more, 50 percent say they struggle to identify candidates with the right education, skills or training.

"My rapidly growing small business is having trouble finding new employees with the right skills and knowledge. We're working to improve the local workforce through partnerships with a university and a nonprofit, but our resources are limited,̢???? said Tim????Corbett, President of Reliable Underground Service Technicians in Allendale, Mich. ̢???Broader action is needed to fix workforce issues, such as expanding opportunities for women to enter technical fields and offering incentives to small businesses that invest in training for their employees."

Small businesses support a number of solutions to address this problem:

  • 63 percent of entrepreneurs say they are interested in employing and developing apprentices through a formal, structured training program.
  • 74 percent support implementing a structured, on-the-job training program for employees.
  • 68 percent of small business owners say they would work with an organization that coordinates with local schools, community colleges, businesses and community organizations to provide job training and placement.
  • 64 percent of small employers are interested in working with other businesses in their industry to develop programs to increase the number of qualified job applicants in their area.
  • 76 percent of small business owners say they would consider seeking out and hiring promising and trainable workers who may not yet have the required experience or certifications, but with an employer̢??‰?s assistance, could obtain them within a specific timeframe.

̢???As the most recent jobs report shows, unemployment numbers continue to decline as small business owners across the country increase their hiring in the midst of our slowly-growing economy,̢???? said Jesse Greenberg, Small Business Majority̢??‰?s Director, Midwest & West. ̢???By implementing programs to help identify, train and retain qualified candidates, we̢??‰?ll create more opportunities for our workforce and help our entrepreneurs continue to grow the economy.̢????

For the full poll report, please visit: Opinion Poll: Small Business Owners are Hiring, but are Struggling to Find the Right Job Candidates

About Small Business Majority
Small Business Majority is a national small business advocacy organization, founded and run by small business owners to focus on solving the biggest problems facing America's 28 million small businesses today. Since 2005, we have actively engaged small business owners and policymakers in support of public policy solutions, and have delivered information and resources to entrepreneurs that promote small business growth and drive a strong, sustainable economy. We are a team of more than 30 working from our 11 offices in Washington, D.C. and 9 states, with a network of more than 45,000 small business owners and more than 2,000 business organizations, along with a formal strategic partnership program of more than 125 business organizations, enabling us to reach more than 500,000 entrepreneurs. Our extensive scientific polling, focus groups and economic research help us educate and inform policymakers, the media and other stakeholders about issues including taxes, healthcare, access to capital, entrepreneurship, workforce development, clean energy and immigration. Learn more about us on our website and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Press State: 
MI