The Extraordinary And Useful Impact That Small Businesses Have On The Entire UK Job Market And Why They Deserve Understanding
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010It’s a curious fact that in the UK, when it comes to creating new job vacancies, it is small companies which account for almost two thirds of the new vacancies made available. This surprising statistic is pointed out in recent research which examined the creation and loss of jobs over the years between 1997 to 2008 and ifentified that small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees) accounted for 65% of new jobs created, a surprisingly high figure when taking into account how many large global companies there are located in the UK.
Within the same years, the small business sector also accounted for 45% of jobs lost, mostly due to businesses failing or having to downsize in order to keep trading. However, this still gives a net increase of 20%, which is very commendable and proves that, in spite of there being greater risk involved, small businesses are much more important to the UK’s overall job scenario than most people would estimate. It’s also very clear that if some kind of aid could be given to support small businesses through short-term bad times, many of the jobs that vanish could maybe be saved.
Whilst some folk may believe that it is too expensive for the government to offer financial aid to such businesses, it is worth taking into account that employees who are made redundant if a business collapses will more than likely require retraining in order to enhance their chances of finding new employment. If that training is provided as part of a JobCentre initiative then it will cost the country anyway. It’s also worth considering that the employee involved is also much more likely to suffer personal problems due to redundancy and job hunting. So perhaps there is a case to be made for helping out the employer in the first place.
Of course, the definition of what a ‘small business’ actually is must surely be open to consideration, but it’s probably reasonable to suppose that many of them are family run companies which offer local goods or services. It is unlikely that any vacancies advertised with such companies ever feature on a list of careers in demand, but they will provide employment for hard-working people within the neighbourhood where they are based, and quite possibly broaden the skill sets of those employees, which by definition makes them more desirable to any new employer.
There are also likely to be an ever expanding number of small businesses which are technology based and offer Online Jobs where employees are able to complete the majority of their Work from Home. These could include activities such as website creation, graphic design, software development, forum moderation and numerous others, and these Online Jobs which are technology driven genuinely do have the potential to be described as careers in demand.
Actually though, most workers would probably say that they are looking for ‘a job’ rather than ‘a career’, and in that scenario, it is worth considering the good things about working for a small business rather than a large global business empire. It is very possible that the fringe benefits provided by a large company will be substantially better - for example, pension funds, healthcare, staff uniform, staff discounts and so on. But unfortunately, there is likely to be greater inflexibility when it comes to taking time off for holidays, appointments etc, a much harsher attitude towards sickness and little interest in individual circumstances which may require understanding.
The small business owner may not be in a position to provide as much in the way of additional rewards, but by treating members of staff as real people, is far more likely to understand what makes each person tick, be more likely to accommodate staff requests for time out of the office, whether it be for medical appointments, school events, sickness, or simply a request to carry out Work from Home because it is quicker to complete a specific project at home without interruptions.