Economic Uncertainty & Small Business

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:16:00 GMT

Online payroll service PayCycle released the results of a proprietary survey that found nearly half of small businesses are scaling back payroll to combat the difficult economic conditions.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of small business owners indicated they are taking action to reduce payroll by laying off staff, not giving raises or offering days off instead of pay increases, all in attempts to preserve cash in an uncertain economy. The survey also found that 43% of small business owners are choosing to cut back their vacations this year. They are staying close to home or even canceling their plans altogether, citing the economy as the primary reason.

"In times of economic uncertainty, small businesses are especially concerned about preserving cash," said Jim Heeger, president and CEO of PayCycle. "It's not surprising that nearly half of small business owners are taking steps to reduce payroll expenses. And combined with the reported cuts in vacation plans, this clearly shows there is belt-tightening across the broad spectrum of small businesses," observed Heeger.

The survey, conducted between June 23 and June 29, 2008, compiled responses from 427 small businesses randomly selected from PayCycle's broad, national base of over 60,000 small business customers.

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Economic Uncertainty & Small Business