Now may be the right time to consider small business loans, as a recent report stated that more small businesses are gearing up to increase wages.
The latest PNC Economic Outlook Survey found a rising number of small and midsized businesses in the U.S. are planning to raise salaries.
“Wage growth has been a missing piece of the labor market puzzle to date,” PNC Chief Economist Stuart Hoffman said in a press release. “With more business owners planning pay raises and higher prices for customers, these findings strongly support our forecast for a faster economic and jobs expansion and also send important signals to Fed policy makers that the economic recovery is speeding up.”
Two in five business owners expect to increase employee compensation over the next six months – the highest number since 2008. Of this demographic, three in five plan to increase wages 3 percent or more.
These plans also appear to correlate with business owner optimism, as 85 percent of survey respondents described themselves as optimistic. This comes on the heels of a report from Deloitte showing 87.8 percent of corporate executives are optimistic regarding the economy, illustrating rising confidence across business sectors both large and small.
More than half of small to midsized business owners expect sales to rise over the next six month, while 45 percent are confident profits will rise.
In addition to rising compensation rates, the number of business owners looking to expand staff is up on an annual basis. Twenty percent of respondents said they plan to add full-time employees, up from 16 percent a year ago. Sixty-one percent of businesses hiring expect to add one to five employees.
Cash flow injection for expanded staff
While many small business owners are holding off on hiring until they see a boost in sales, owners looking to bring on new staff sooner rather than later could benefit from a small business loan to cover wages. This could be especially important in cases where business owners are looking to increase employee compensation.
With the holiday rush right around the corner, there’s no doubt many business owners will be looking to bring on new worker, even if only for a seasonal period. A cash flow injection from a small business loan could make hiring, training and paying new workers much easier.
