Key facts:
- 56% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in August 2026, but 82% of them found few or no qualified applicants for the roles they were trying to fill (NFIB Jobs Report, Sept. 3, 2026)
- 35% of small businesses had job openings they couldn’t fill, 11 points above the historical average (NFIB Jobs Report)
- “Labor quality or availability” is small businesses’ single most important problem at 23%, ranking above taxes and inflation (both 16%) (NFIB SBET Report, August 2026)
- Hiring intentions are cooling: a net 17% of owners plan to create new jobs, down 3 points from July’s post-2022 high (NFIB Jobs Report)
- Nationally, job openings rates are climbing in manufacturing and construction even as they cool in leisure and hospitality (BLS JOLTS, Sept. 1, 2026)
Openings Are Up, but So Is Frustration With Who’s Applying
Most small businesses in the U.S. are actively trying to hire.
In August 2026, 56% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire, according to NFIB’s monthly Jobs Report (NFIB, Sept. 3, 2026).
That’s down 5 points from July. Hiring plans are cooling too. A net 17% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, down 3 points from July’s highest reading since October 2022.
But the slowdown isn’t simply a demand problem.
Of the owners who were hiring or trying to hire, 82% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they needed to fill. Twenty-nine percent found few qualified applicants, and 18% found none at all.
That’s why “labor quality or availability” has become small businesses’ top operating problem. In August, 23% of owners named it their single most important issue, more than named taxes or inflation (NFIB SBET Report, August 2026).
NFIB’s own historical data shows how unusual this is. Labor quality complaints have ranged from a survey low of 2% to a survey high of 29% since NFIB started tracking the measure. The current 23% reading sits closer to that record high than to its long-run average of 12%.
Put together, the picture isn’t “nobody wants to hire” or “there’s nobody to hire.” It’s that small businesses are still posting openings and still trying to fill them, but a growing share of the applicants who show up aren’t ready for the job, and that friction is starting to cool hiring plans overall.
Where the Openings Actually Are
Nationally, labor demand isn’t cooling evenly across industries.
BLS’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for July 2026 shows total job openings little changed at 7.3 million, a 4.4% rate. But that headline number hides real divergence by industry (BLS JOLTS News Release, Sept. 1, 2026).
| Industry | July 2026 Openings Rate | Change from June |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 4.4% | +0.6 pts |
| Construction | 3.8% | +0.3 pts |
| Leisure and hospitality | 4.4% | -0.2 pts |
| Accommodation and food services | 4.5% | -0.1 pts |
Manufacturing’s openings rate jumped the most of any industry tracked, driven by a 79,000-position increase concentrated in durable goods. Construction openings also rose. Meanwhile leisure and hospitality, and accommodation and food services specifically, both saw openings rates edge down.
That’s notable for employers in construction, manufacturing, and other labor-intensive trades: national demand for workers in these industries is rising even as it eases elsewhere, which means the “few or no qualified applicants” problem NFIB describes is likely landing hardest exactly where these employers sit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do small businesses say they can’t find qualified workers even as hiring cools? Because the two problems aren’t the same thing. NFIB data shows hiring intentions have eased somewhat (a net 17% plan to create jobs, down from July), but the share of owners reporting few or no qualified applicants remains high at 82% of those actively hiring. Businesses are pulling back not because they’ve lost interest in hiring, but because repeated unsuccessful searches make expansion feel less worth pursuing right now (NFIB Jobs Report).
Is this really a labor shortage, or a skills and quality mismatch? NFIB’s own framing points to the latter. The survey question specifically asks about “labor quality or availability,” and 23% of owners cite it as their top problem, well above the historical average of 12%. That’s a distinct complaint from a pure headcount shortage; owners are reporting applicants who exist but aren’t matched to what the job needs (NFIB SBET Report).
Which industries have the toughest time filling open roles right now? BLS JOLTS data for July 2026 shows manufacturing and construction posting rising openings rates (4.4% and 3.8% respectively, both up from June), while leisure and hospitality and accommodation and food services saw openings rates ease slightly. That suggests the tightest current demand sits in manufacturing and construction specifically, not across all industries evenly (BLS JOLTS).
Is this different from the labor shortage of 2021-2022? The current NFIB “labor quality or availability” reading of 23% is well below the survey’s all-time high of 29%, which came during the tightest years of the post-pandemic labor market. So by NFIB’s own measure, today’s problem, while still historically elevated, is somewhat less acute than the peak of a few years ago (NFIB SBET Report).
What This Means for Employers
- Widen where you’re sourcing candidates. If 82% of your applicant pool isn’t matching the role, the fix may be upstream of the interview, in where and how the role gets posted, not just who applies.
- Build training into the hiring pipeline instead of screening only for it. With labor quality named as the top small-business problem nationally, employers who can train a promising-but-underqualified candidate have an edge over those competing solely for pre-qualified talent.
- Watch industry-specific demand, not just the national headline. If you’re in manufacturing or construction, JOLTS data suggests you’re competing in a tightening market even while headline U.S. hiring looks flat.
- Consider partnerships with trade schools or apprenticeship programs to build a pipeline of workers who are trained specifically for your industry’s needs before they ever apply.
- Employer-sponsored visa pathways, including the EB-3 program, are one option some employers use to access workers pre-vetted for specific unskilled and skilled roles, alongside domestic sourcing and training investments. It comes with its own timeline and compliance requirements and works best as part of a broader hiring strategy, not a replacement for one.
