The National Small Business Association, in partnership with Cynthia Kay and Company Media Production, has released the 2017 Small Business Workforce and Labor Survey, which quantifies how workforce issues ranging from immigration to education to background checks impact our nation’s leading job creators.
“We found that more than one-in-three small employers hire some kind of immigrant worker,” said NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. “However, the current political climate has people worried about the viability of guest workers, with nearly one-in-five saying they are less likely to hire a guest worker in the coming year.”
Among the wide-ranging topics in the survey was a section related to so-called “ban the box” legislation, which found that 71 percent of small-business owners ask potential employees about any past criminal convictions at some point during the hiring process. The leading driver for these checks: liability concerns.
On the topic of employee eligibility, the majority of small firms support some level of mandated use of an improved E-Verify or similar system if it included a safe harbor clause for employers operating in good faith.
The 2017 Small Business Workforce and Labor Survey was conducted June 6-12.
