New research from world-leading talent management platform, Employment Hero, lays bare the struggle SMEs face when attempting to hire.
The survey of 514 SME hiring leaders across a range of sectors found they were consistently losing talent to larger multinational organisations. These included leaders at micro-organisations with less than ten employees and larger organisations with up to 500.
The survey revealed that the average hire cost £3,089 to advertise, a 68% increase on the cost in 2022, and received 10 or fewer applications. It took 31 days to fill the position.
There were considerable differences between SMEs however, with smaller businesses of less than ten employees like cafes and bars typically spending less on job ads, receiving less applications, but hiring faster.
Government data from the ONS suggests that these hospitality businesses also face the highest vacancy rate however, with about one in 20 (4.9%) unfilled positions at the end of August.
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