There’s been plenty of economic uncertainty in the air lately. Between tariff worries and growing inflation (especially between the months of June to July), consumers are strapped. Leah Long, Director of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Federation for Independent Businesses spoke to WWL’s Dave Cohen about how small businesses are feeling in the state.
“We put a survey out every month gauging how small business owners did in the previous month,” Long says.
“In August and September, while optimism has increased, one of the biggest issues we’ve been dealing with is inflation. That’s been going on for longer than a year or so now. But the biggest issue small business owners are facing is labor issues. Trying to find a skilled workforce to fill those job openings they have. That seems to be the biggest problem moving forward right now,” she went on to explain.
“Over the last several months, it’s a bit shocking that 21% of small business owners reported that labor issues are one of the biggest concerns in their business,” explains Long.
“When you’re a small business owner, you’re investing in that employee when you hire them. Some businesses don’t have human resources departments, so they have to spend their own capital to get them into the business and train them,” she goes on to say. With a lack of quality applicants, that can be a large leap of faith for some operations without much margin for error.
While there is relatively low unemployment at the moment, Long says Louisiana needs to continue investing in its work force moving forward.
She notes that the state has done well in partnering businesses with community colleges and trade schools in the area to allow workers a pipeline to employment after training.