Small Business United Blog

Are the Clouds Beginning to Part?

by Nora Denzel - October 26, 2009

Our latest Intuit Payroll survey findings are out, and the results give me hope. While unemployment figures have reached a 26-year high, 44 percent of the 1,000 Intuit Payroll customers we surveyed said they plan to hire new employees within the next 12 months. Now, don’t get me wrong - we here at Intuit are not uncorking the champagne bottles quite yet. But we do think this is at least one sign that the clouds are beginning to part.

Although we’ll start seeing more “now hiring” signs hanging in windows, business owners are facing a dilemma when it comes to attracting strong talent. Nearly 90 percent of our survey participants cited health insurance benefits as an important carrot in attracting and retaining good employees. Yet nearly 60 percent don’t actually offer healthcare insurance of any kind.  The most cited reason: high cost.  Employer-provided retirement plans are even scarcer. Just a quarter of the businesses surveyed offer them.

So what I’m seeing is a widening gap of expectations, in which society assumes that health and retirement benefits are part of every employee’s compensation package, but small business owners are particularly worried about being able to afford the cost of these benefits. And rightfully so.

Now back to the good news. For those of you who are looking to staff up, or even just thinking about it, we’ve put together some useful tips for you on how to get started and manage employees at: http://intuitonlinepayroll.com/hire.

These are just a few of my observations. You can make your own by checking out the survey results at: Intuit Payroll Survey Stats. And then come back here and let me know - is this what you’re experiencing in your business?

If you liked reading this you may also enjoy:

1. Intuit Payroll Survey: SMBs Rely on Themselves, Not Government, for Success
2. Hiring Right the First Time
3. Intuit to Acquire PayCycle