Sixty percent of Connecticut businesses with 500 or fewer employees reported that they”™re hiring in 2016, according to a new survey by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA).
The group”™s 2016 Survey of Small Businesses, conducted in March and April, also found that about half of its respondents expect to remain stable, 38 percent anticipate growth, and 13 percent expect to contract.
Of those who are hiring, 59 percent said that would be adding fewer than four new workers; 27 percent that they would be hiring four to 10 new employees; 8 percent will hire 11-20 workers; and 6 percent expect to add more than 20 employees.
CBIA economist Pete Gioia said that small businesses represent nearly 99 percent of all businesses in the U.S., adding: “This survey allows us to better understand what taxes, legislation, and issues concern them and how to correct it.”
The top three challenges cited by respondents were profitability and growth (31 percent); government regulations, mandates, and other policy decisions (21 percent); and the cost of doing business/taxes (20 percent).
