66% of the owners of small companies struggle to hire: how companies change how they bring in new employees

Many owners of small companies are ready to expand their teams. But one Next Research study showed that most expect that hiring new employees is a challenge. And many successfully attract new talent with new strategies that work.

In April 2025 we asked 1500 owners of small companies who wanted to hire in the coming six months for their thoughts about finding and attracting more employees. The data reveals a difficult recruitment landscape, including heavy competition and a shortage of skilled applicants.

The demand for more employees is strong and evolving

For Danilo Coviello, founder of Espresso translationsRecruitment is a strategic step to improve the lead times, reduce bottlenecks and earn customer confidence.

“I am hiring two project managers,” he says. “We are dealing with an average of 80-100 projects per month … Bringing in two pms will shave that delay in two and will help us keep the passage times of the customer under 48 hours.”

Rural and in the business sectors, owners of small companies actively take on for many roles to stay agile and to meet the demand. In our report, 22% are planning to hire full -time staff, 17% ask part -time help and others look at Seasonal workers (14%) and contract roles (12%).

According to Ernst & Young’s 2024 Work Reimagined SurveyFlexible work is becoming increasingly a standard. Organizations shift from rigid, full -time recruitment to more adjustable, project -based and contract roles that can adapt to changing workload and economic uncertainty. The report also notes that skills-based recruitment-in place of traditional degree requirements can help close the gap between available talent and work requirements.

The question of the question is high, and many think talent is scarce

From nichesoftware skills to handling pressure in fast roles, the bar for qualified candidates is high. As the demand exceeds supply, owners of small companies report that finding people who really fit in with the job has become more complex.

In our survey, more than 66% said that attracting the right talent will be somewhat or very difficult in the next six months. Only a third thought that the process would be simple.

Coviello says it is bluntly: “I currently need two project managers and it turns out to be more difficult than last year. There are many candidates, but finding someone who can deal with pressure and knows that software is rare.”

This identifies one Mismatch skill Between open roles and available talent. Hiring is not just filling seats; It’s about finding people who can contribute, keep track of and linger.

What makes hiring so difficult?

In our research, the main reason why owners of small companies quote for the challenges in assuming the lack of skilled applicants (17%).

Others said they have trouble competing because they do not offer benefits (13%), other jobs in the area are more attractive (11%) or they cannot match local wages (11%). Another 10% report that unemployment is low in the area where they do business.

How small companies change how they hire

With flexible work locations, personal references and better internal systems, many business owners have discovered that the best way to compete in order not to spend talent – it is crowded.

Lou Haverty, owner of Tank shopSays that recent shifts from the labor market have made it easier to find good people. “A large part of this is due to the general shift of larger companies that require employees to stop working from home and returning to the office,” he explains. “One of the largest assets that I can offer employees is the possibility to work 100% of the time from home. These candidates also want to receive competitive reimbursement, but the flexibility to work from home is by far the most important factor in their interest in our position,” he says.

Bee All Star CleaningCo-owner Derek Christian says that his employees can be his best proponents to find talent. “So many employers think that people should be grateful to just work for them – but we ensure that applicants understand why we are a great place to be before we start screening,” says Christian. “We like to have someone who really believes in the company, calls them to sell the company.”

Daniel Roberts, CEO of Lava branchTakes a similar personal approach. “All affairs rent in small companies,” he says. “Flexible shifts and high salaries … have given us good results.” By listening to both candidates and current employees, his company built up a workplace that appreciates the growth, balance and connection – and the turnover saw 17%falling.

“Our current employees were pronounced about the importance of flexibility and clear growth opportunities. At the same time, we found during recruiting that candidates were increasingly asked about the balance and progress of work and progress.” These changes helped improve the lower turnover and improved employee satisfaction by 23%.

For future recruitment, Roberts also builds up early connections with trade schools and local communities. “That gives us early access to future talent – especially for seasonal or contract roles,” he says.

Translator Coviello supports his team with systems that prevent burnout and improve the workflow. “We check and tweaking of processes on a quarterly basis … to respect the time of people, to trust their opinion and to offer them to systems that actually offer support for their work.”

Others, such as Haverty from Tank Retailer, have completely shifted the recruitment criteria. “Initially I was more focused on the fame and understanding of the employee of our tank and truck equipment products. What I thought was that it was more important for an employee to have a positive and fascinating personality.”

This story was produced by Next and assessed and distributed by Pile.

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