Small business hiring statistics: openings, shortages and plans

Small business hiring statistics in 2026 show firms still trying to hire, but finding too few qualified people. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) June 2026 jobs report found 62% of owners were hiring or trying to hire, and 32% (seasonally adjusted) had openings they could not fill. Of all owners, 51% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill, which works out to 84% of those hiring.

That matters because small firms carry a large share of the workforce. The SBA Office of Advocacy's 2026 small business FAQ reports that small businesses employ 62.3 million people, or 45.9% of private-sector workers. In South Carolina, the SBA's 2025 state profile puts small business employment at 863,326, or 42.9% of the state's private workforce. The two largest small business employers in the state are service sectors: accommodation and food services (151,187 employees) and health care and social assistance (114,671). Small businesses also created 70.9% of the state's net new jobs between March 2023 and March 2024, so their hiring problems show up quickly in the local economy.

This report compiles NFIB's monthly jobs data, the Federal Reserve Banks' 2025 Small Business Credit Survey (published March 2026), the St. Louis Fed's analysis of the prior survey and SBA Office of Advocacy figures.

About one in three. NFIB's June 2026 report put the share of owners with openings they could not fill at 32%, up 3 points from May. Openings for skilled workers held at 27%, and openings for unskilled labor rose to 12%. A seasonally adjusted net 11% of owners planned to create new jobs in the following three months, which NFIB notes matches the survey's historical average.

The applicant problem is the sharper finding. 27% of owners reported few qualified applicants and 24% reported none. For a dental office looking for a hygienist, a law firm hiring a paralegal or an auto shop looking for a technician, "no qualified applicants" means the role stays open for weeks and the existing team absorbs the work.

It is the second biggest operational challenge. The Federal Reserve Banks' 2025 Small Business Credit Survey, fielded September to November 2025 with 6,525 employer firm responses, found 57% of firms struggled with reaching customers and growing sales and 46% with hiring or retaining qualified staff. Next came supply chain issues (30%) and using technology (29%). Only 11% reported no operational challenges.

Costs sit underneath both. 73% of firms in the same survey named increased costs of goods, services or wages as a financial challenge, and the share citing rising costs reached 90% in leisure and hospitality and 70% in healthcare and education. NFIB's June report found 8% of owners named labor costs as their single most important problem, down 6 points from a record high in May, while 19% named labor quality.

The two challenges are linked for service businesses. When a front desk seat is empty, calls go to voicemail and quote requests sit, which makes growing sales harder. When a skilled role is open, the business turns away work or stretches lead times. Planning staffing and customer response together usually opens more options than handling each on its own.

Fewer are than before. In the Fed's 2025 survey, 36% of employer firms expected to add employees in the next 12 months, 51% expected no change and 13% expected a decrease. The employment expectations index (the share expecting growth minus the share expecting a cut) fell from 26 to 23, the lowest level since the 2020 survey.

Actual growth has been flat. In the same survey, 28% of firms said employment increased over the prior 12 months, 47% saw no change and 24% saw a decrease. The St. Louis Fed's review of the previous year's survey found the share of growing employer firms, defined as firms that increased both revenue and headcount and planned to keep or add staff, fell from 22% in 2022 and 2023 to 19% in 2024.

Partly with pay, partly with tools. NFIB's net share of owners raising compensation was 28% in June 2026, the lowest reading of that year, and a net 17% planned raises in the next three months. Pay increases are slowing, but they have not stopped.

Technology is the other lever. The Fed's survey found 46% of employer firms were using AI for work at the time of the survey, and another 15% planned to start within a year. Among users, the most common tasks were writing or marketing (83%), individual productivity (61%), planning or analysis (51%), administrative functions (38%) and customer service (29%). 71% of AI users reported higher productivity.

So far this has not meant fewer jobs at most firms. 77% of AI-using firms reported no change in labor costs, 16% reported a decrease and 7% an increase. Among the small group of firms that did report labor cost changes, about as many said they added employees (10%) as said they cut them (11%) because of AI. For most small firms, the tools are taking on tasks so the existing team can cover more ground.

With a third of owners holding open roles and most applicant pools thin, a business that depends on hiring its way out of a busy season will often be short. The data supports planning around that. Monvell's Operations and Automation work starts with mapping where staff hours go, then automates the repeat tasks (confirmations, follow-ups, intake, routing) so the people you do have spend their time with clients.

• Separate the roles you must hire from the tasks you could remove. Appointment reminders, intake forms, quote follow-ups and status updates rarely need a new person.
• Write down how key jobs are done. Documented processes shorten training when you do hire and reduce the risk when someone leaves.
• Hire for the skilled roles first. NFIB's data shows skilled openings (27%) are more than twice as common as unskilled ones (12%), and those roles take longest to fill.
• Track response and turnaround times as the team changes. If missed calls or slow replies rise when a seat is empty, that is the work to automate or cover first.
• Budget for pay pressure. Raises are slowing but a net 17% of owners still planned them in mid-2026, and competitors for the same people are doing the same math.
• Use retention as a hiring strategy. With 46% of firms struggling to hire or keep staff, keeping a trained employee is usually cheaper than replacing one.
• Watch the leading indicators in your own data: applications per opening, days to fill, and first-90-day turnover. They tell you sooner than any national survey whether your hiring problem is getting better or worse.

NFIB figures come from its June 2026 jobs report, based on its monthly member survey and reported with seasonal adjustment where noted. Federal Reserve figures come from the 2026 Report on Employer Firms, which covers the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey of firms with 1 to 499 employees; it is a convenience sample weighted to national estimates, and the AI questions were an optional module answered by about 81% of respondents. The St. Louis Fed figures come from its October 2025 Open Vault post on the 2024 survey. National and South Carolina employment shares come from the SBA Office of Advocacy's 2026 FAQ and 2025 South Carolina profile.

None of these sources break out hiring difficulty for specific service industries such as dental, legal or salon businesses, so we do not rank industries here.