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Paychex Small Business Snapshot: The Election's Impact on Hiring and Wage Decisions

July 21, 2016
 

Paychex Small Business Snapshot Election Hiring Wages

During a general election year, there’s always debate surrounding the question of whether or not the uncertainty of the election has an impact on job and wage growth. Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of human capital management solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses, today released the results of its latest Paychex Small Business Snapshot, which reveals the answer is largely dependent on the size of the business.

The survey found that the election is a key factor impacting decisions to add staff and increase wages among companies with 100-500 employees. Nearly three-quarters of those employers said the election is impacting their decision to add staff (74%) and increase wages (71%).

The data tells a different story for smaller businesses. Of companies with 20-99 employees, less than half said the election is affecting their decisions to add staff (42%) and increase wages (48%). The numbers continue to decrease for companies with fewer than 19 employees with only 14% claiming the election is impacting their hiring decisions and just 9% reporting it’s affecting their decision to increase wages.

“Any election year brings with it a sense of uncertainty and many business owners could be hesitant to make decisions effecting the long-term during such an ambiguous time,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “With that in mind, there’s been speculation that the election may be keeping businesses from deciding to add staff or increase wages. As our research indicates, while the presidential election is an important consideration for larger businesses when it comes to these decisions, the overwhelming majority of smaller businesses do not see it as a factor in their decision to hire or raise wages.”

Paychex Small Business Snapshot: How Does the Election Impact Hiring and Wage Growth? from Paychex

About the Paychex Small Business Snapshot Data included in the Paychex Small Business Snapshot was taken from the results of the Paychex Small Business Survey, administered by Bredin. The survey was conducted online between June 5, 2016 and June 20, 2016 and polled 313 principals of U.S. companies with less than 500 employees.