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SmallBiz Layoffs Nearly Double: 15% in Dec., up 7%.

December 9, 2022

Michigan Business Network

Alignable’s December Hiring Report is out today and the news is troubling, reflecting significant surges in layoffs and hiring freezes among small businesses across N. America.

Nearly twice as many small business employers (15%) are laying off staffers in Dec. compared to Nov., when the figure was only 8%.

An average of 74% of small business employers have instituted hiring freezes until at least Q2 2023, up 12 percentage points from Nov. They’re saying they can’t afford to hire full-time, permanent staffers now given inflation, reduced revenues, high labor costs, and fears of a recession.

The report is based on the sentiments of 6,908 randomly selected small business owners polled from 11/19/22 to 12/8/22, as well as 100,000+ historical responses from surveys over the past 2.5 years. Additional highlights include:

61% of all SMB owners say high inflation continues to have a very negative impact on their financial well-being.
Only 14% report that they have fully recovered, earning the same or more monthly revenue generated prior to COVID, while their costs have skyrocketed. This recovery rate is down from 24% in October, and 43% a year ago in Dec. 2021.
18% of construction firms (up 6%), and 17% of real estate companies (up 9%) are laying off workers, largely due to elevated interest rates & inflation
17% of transportation companies are letting staffers go, up 13% from Nov.
14% of retailers are laying off workers, up 13% from last month. 40% of retailers say they’re earning less in Q4 2022 than they did in Q4 2021.
11% of restaurateurs are reducing their staff (up 5%), while overall, 56% are implementing hiring freezes (up 3%). At the same time, the 44% who are still hiring, report trouble finding the right workers.
However, there are two silver linings: only 4% of manufacturers and only 1% of travel SMBs are having layoffs. Both sectors are showing signs of recovery.
States with the highest number of SMBs implementing hiring freezes include IL (82%), MI (80%), CO (79%), NJ (77%), CA (76%), & TX (75%).
States with the highest percentage of SMB layoffs include CO (21%), MI (20%), TX (17%), CA (16%), NC (16%), OH (12%), and IL (11%). (Note: Layoff figures are included in state hiring freeze totals).
Canada has the same percentage of small businesses implementing hiring freezes (74%) and laying off staff (15%), as the U.S. does. (Ontario leads the provinces in small business layoffs with 16%, up 14% from November).

S ee the full report here.

I’m happy to provide additional data on other states, provinces, industries, and demographic groups. Also, if you want to schedule an interview with small business owners and/or our Alignable researchers, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for sharing the sentiments of SMBs everywhere.

Best regards, Chuck

Chuck Casto, Head of Research, Corporate Communications & News, chuck@alignable.com

Note To The Media: You can freely use any of the information contained in this report for any story globally. We only request that you acknowledge Alignable as the source, and that you backlink to this report, so your audience can benefit from the additional details provided. Thanks again for your interest in supporting small businesses, the backbone of our economy.

P.S. — Charts like these are also included in the report:

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