By Salary by Career 
Hiring fewer employees should make finding good candidates easier. At least, that’s how the labor market is supposed to work.
September’s small-business employment figures tell a different story.
According to NFIB’s September 2026 Jobs Report, 87% of small-business owners who hired or attempted to hire received few or no qualified applicants. Hiring activity was slowing, but suitable candidates were apparently still difficult to find.
NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg described employment conditions as softening while noting that the small-business labor market was still tighter than normal.
Consider a small repair company looking for an experienced technician.
Fewer competing job postings might sound encouraging, but that doesn’t help much if nobody applying has the necessary experience.
So, if fewer businesses are hiring, why isn’t finding a qualified employee getting easier?
Nearly 9 in 10 Hiring Small Businesses Struggled to Find Qualified Applicants
During September, 51% of small-business owners hired or attempted to hire, a five-percentage-point decline compared with August.
Among all surveyed owners, 25% reported receiving few qualified applicants, while another 20% received none. Together, those groups accounted for approximately 87% of owners actively hiring.
Getting applications and finding someone capable of doing the job are two different achievements.
Skill requirements complicate matters. Some 27% of owners reported openings for skilled workers, while 16% had positions available for unskilled labor.
Wind turbine service technicians, for example, topped the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list of fastest-growing occupations, with employment projected to increase 49.9% between 2024 and 2034.
An experienced technician, for example, cannot simply be replaced by someone willing to learn the trade over a weekend.
Of course, qualifications aren’t always the entire problem. Employers may be expecting candidates with several years of experience while offering compensation that doesn’t attract them. Others genuinely need specialized abilities that are difficult to find locally.
NFIB’s figures establish that employers are dissatisfied with applicant qualifications. They don’t establish exactly how much of that dissatisfaction comes down to insufficient skills, wages, or hiring expectations.
For a business owner, however, the immediate problem is fairly straightforward. Another week of interviewing means another week of unfinished work.
Small Business Job Openings Declined as Hiring Cooled
A seasonally adjusted 32% of small-business owners reported job openings they couldn’t fill, three percentage points below August. Even after that decline, the figure was eight percentage points above its historical average.
NFIB’s Small Business Employment Index also fell 1.2 points to 100.6, below its 2025 average of 101.2.
At first glance, fewer vacancies might suggest businesses are finally having more success recruiting employees.
Possibly. But there’s another explanation worth considering.
A restaurant owner who removes a vacant kitchen position after months of unsuccessful recruiting has technically reduced the number of available jobs. Nobody was hired, though. Existing employees simply have more work to do.
Operating expenses and uncertainty about future sales can also persuade owners to postpone recruitment.
Consequently, falling job openings don’t necessarily mean labor shortages have disappeared. Some businesses may have stopped searching, at least temporarily.
Labor Quality Remains a Bigger Concern Than Labor Costs
One of September’s more interesting findings concerns what business owners consider their biggest problem.
Some 26% identified labor quality or availability as their most important operating concern, up three percentage points compared with August. That was more than double the historical average of 12%.
Only 6% identified labor costs as their biggest problem, the lowest share since December 2020.
Does that mean employees have suddenly become affordable?
Not quite.
A seasonally adjusted net 28% of owners reported increasing compensation during September, three points below August. Meanwhile, a net 20% planned wage increases over the following three months, two points higher.
Those net figures measure the percentage reporting increases minus the percentage reporting decreases. They aren’t the average percentage increase in wages.
Hiring expenses also extend well past the hourly rate or salary.
In Massachusetts, NFIB representative Christopher Carlozzi pointed to unemployment insurance taxes and healthcare expenses as additional financial pressures associated with adding employees.
A small business might be willing to pay more for a capable worker while still struggling to justify the complete cost of another position.
Leaving that position empty isn’t necessarily cheaper, either.
An owner covering extra shifts may save on payroll but lose time that could have gone toward finding customers, managing suppliers, or expanding the business.
Unfortunately, neither expense comes with a particularly attractive receipt.
What Can Small Businesses Do When Qualified Applicants Are Scarce?
Finding suitable employees isn’t entirely outside an owner’s control, although the available options usually involve spending money, time, or both.
Relaxing certain hiring requirements might help. A company demanding five years of experience for a position that could be learned in six months may be unnecessarily limiting its candidate pool.
On-the-job training, apprenticeships, and partnerships with local workforce development programs offer other possibilities.
Technology is complicating hiring decisions, since AI reshapes careers; some skills may become less valuable while others grow more important. That leaves small-business owners with an awkward calculation.
Should they pay more for someone who already knows the job, or hire a less experienced applicant and invest in training?
Neither option is particularly cheap, especially when the business needs someone working today.
None of those changes guarantees a successful hire.
For an owner, the relevant calculation is how much an inexperienced employee would cost to train compared with the expense of leaving the position vacant.
Waiting for the perfect candidate can be expensive. Hiring the wrong person can be even more expensive.
Fewer Openings Don’t Mean Hiring Has Become Easier
September’s figures suggest small businesses are approaching recruitment more cautiously, not abandoning it altogether.
A seasonally adjusted net 17% of owners planned to create jobs over the following three months, unchanged compared with August.
Hiring intentions are still positive, but finding people with the necessary qualifications continues to frustrate employers.
For some businesses, higher compensation may solve part of the problem. Others might find training more affordable than competing for experienced workers.
Owners facing uncertain sales may decide to postpone expansion altogether.
Fewer businesses may be hiring, but 87% of those attempting to recruit still reported difficulty finding qualified applicants.
For owners, the more useful question is how long they can afford to keep looking and what an empty position is costing them in the meantime.