More than half of SMB leaders plan to hire in 2020, survey shows

Dive Brief:

While the coronavirus pandemic has challenged many businesses, small- and medium-sized organizations are optimistic about economic recovery, with 54% of surveyed business leaders planning to hire full-time employees in 2020 according to Aug. 6 results from Paycor.
More than 70% of the nearly 600 business leaders surveyed said the impact of COVID-19 on their business has been at least "moderately challenging" and 87% of businesses attempted to take advantage of a government loan or tax program. Ninety-six percent of those businesses received some funds, with the most prevalent source being the Paycheck Protection Program.
Nearly half (47%) of business leaders surveyed said their companies moved from offices to remote work, while 6% have temporarily shut down. Another 38% were essential businesses that stayed open through the pandemic. Asked if they believe telework will stay, 40% of leaders were adamant they would return to the office, and 48% said there would be a mix.

Dive Insight:

Many public companies enacted hiring freezes or pay cuts at the start of the pandemic, in addition or as an alternative to furloughs or layoffs. Among the Paycor survey respondents, 30% furloughed workers, while 27% laid employees off and 20% reduced salaries.

As a sign of recovery, financial consulting firm CBIZ noted a "vast upswing" in hiring back in June. Paycor’s figures on attitudes and business closures also show more optimism than a March study from Metlife in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in which 1 in 4 businesses reported temporarily shutting down.

Though hiring is in recovery, job listings are down quite a bit, according to Indeed. The job board giant reported that postings were down 15.2% year-over-year in March and then updated that figure to a 34% drop year-to-date on May 27 compared to 2019. The lack of requisitions has even led some recruiters to expand the scope of their work, according to a recent Lever survey.

As for working remotely, little question remains as to whether it will be more prevalent, even in a post-pandemic future. In May, Nationwide became one of the largest companies to make a significant change in this arena by consolidating regional offices and expanding its remote work policy.