Small Businesses Face Tough Competition Attracting Top Talent According to Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index
May 03 2005 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Small Businesses Face Tough Competition Attracting Top Talent
According to Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index SAN FRANCISCO,
May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Almost three in four small business
owners say their most serious disadvantage when hiring new
employees, compared with larger companies, is the ability to
provide a competitive package of benefits (salary, health
insurance, retirement, vacation). Wells Fargo today released these
findings in the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index. The
ability to provide healthcare benefits to new employees was the
second most cited competitive disadvantage reported by sixty-eight
percent of survey respondents. Additionally, sixty percent of small
business owners see the amount of compensation they can offer an
employee as a critical disadvantage when compared to larger
companies. The Q1 2005 Index rose slightly from Q4 2004, from 106
to 110. The Index tracks six key measures for both current
conditions and future expectations as reported by over 600 small
business owners; current financial situation, revenues, cash flow,
capital spending, number of jobs and credit availability.
Approximately two-thirds of small business owners also report
difficulty finding the right qualified employees for their
businesses. However, sixty-nine percent say this has not hurt their
business in the past 12 months. While only twenty percent say they
are currently looking for new employees, if they had hiring needs
today, fifty percent would be more likely to hire a temporary or
contract worker than a full-time employee. "Finding the right
employees is crucial to the success of our businesses," said Ann
Padilla, Owner of SunnySide Inc./Temp Side, a Denver-based staffing
company. "The competitive challenges of hiring are offset, however,
by the benefits small businesses offer: autonomy, creativity, flex
time, and the opportunity to be part of something truly
entrepreneurial. People are our greatest competitive advantage --
and the ability to find qualified people is a major reason why
small businesses have continued to grow." Small business owners
remain optimistic about the future. Eighty-two percent expect a
positive financial environment over the next 12 months,
seventy-five percent expect a positive cash flow and sixty-one
percent expect revenues to increase. Ninety-five percent expressed
feelings of success as a small business owner, and ninety percent
say they are satisfied as a business owner. "Although faced with
strong competitive challenges, industry data confirms small
businesses generate the majority of all job growth in the United
States," said Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann, small business segment
manager for Wells Fargo. "Some hurdles remain -- namely finding
ways to offer competitive benefits packages -- that's why we spend
so much time at Wells Fargo looking for solutions to help small
businesses succeed financially, including our Simplified Employee
Pension, 401(k) and business insurance options." About Wells Fargo
& Company Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial
services company with $436 billion in assets, providing banking,
insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance to more than
23 million customers from more than 6,000 stores and the internet
(wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere
internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only bank in the
United States to receive the highest possible credit rating, "Aaa,"
from Moody's Investors Service. Providing financial products and
services to more than one million businesses with annual sales up
to $20 million in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada, Wells
Fargo is the #1 lender to small businesses in the United States in
total dollar volume according to the most recent CRA data (2003).
The second largest national SBA lender in dollars, Wells Fargo is
an SBA Preferred Lender in 28 states, and originated 3,555 loans
for $495 million in 2004. Wells Fargo has also been ranked the
number one SBA 504 lender nationally for the last two years. Its
targeted business services programs provide outreach and education
to women, African American, Latino, and Asian business owners about
financial services. Since 1995, Wells Fargo has loaned more than
$23 billion to women and minority business owners. About the Gallup
Organization For more than 60 years, the Gallup Organization has
been a recognized leader in the measurement and analysis of
people's attitudes, opinions and behavior. While best known for the
Gallup Poll, founded in 1935, Gallup's current activities consist
largely of providing marketing and management research, advisory
services and education to the world's largest corporations and
institutions. DATASOURCE: Wells Fargo & Company CONTACT:
Linadria Porter of Wells Fargo & Company, +1-415-222-6236, or
Web site: http://www.wellsfargo.com/
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