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Economic uncertainty felt by small-business owners impacts global labor markets

Posted on March 14th, 2013 Read time: 1 minutes

Sequestration, healthcare reform and economic uncertainty is taking a major toll on small-business owner confidence. A recent survey of 502 organization leaders revealed 40 percent are worried about the effect of new tax laws and 30 percent are concerned the Affordable Care Act will negatively impact operational costs, according to Fox Business.

Amid these issues, another major worry for small-business owners is finding and retaining the right talent. While nearly 30 percent of surveyed small-business owners plan to increase their workforce numbers this year, more than one-quarter said they are unable to offer potential new hires compensation or benefits that are competitive enough to reel them in.

While sequestration and payroll taxes may seem like they only affect U.S. businesses, a separate study from ManpowerGroup revealed economic uncertainty is troubling firms around the world. While employers in three-quarters of labor markets reported expansive hiring intentions, 25 of the 42 countries and territories surveyed reported weaker employment expectations compared to last year.

Because these concerns can weigh heavily on organization leadership, decision makers should consider relieving themselves of the burden of HR administration tasks, such as payroll management, by outsourcing to an external service provider.

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