Economics Today 18th Edition by Roger LeRoy Miller

تمرين 1

A Small - Business Skills Mismatch and Structural Unemployment
More than 99 percent of U.S compqnies are small businesses.A typical small business employes fewer than 20 workers.these facts taken together suggest why small businesses account for only one-fifth of all U.S jobs. At any given time,though,in past years small businesses typically have acccouunted for more than six of every ten new positions that U.S employers fill each year.
Paul McDonald, a senior executive director with the professional staffing firm Robert Half International,Inc., has just overseen a study of the biggest management challenges facing small businesses. He has discovered that for 60 percent of small businesses ,the main challenge is finding skilled workers. Many small businesses have adopted the latest technologies for producing goods or delivering services.Consequently, they require workers who are able to perform skilled tasks, such as using digital technologies to adapt designs to customer orders or to develop logistical plans for providing services to clients. Most small firms do not have significant budgets for training people to perform these tasks and must search for workers who already possess required skills.McDonald's survey indicates a mismatch may help to account for the fact today that small businesses are providing only just over four of every ten new jobs and leaving positions unfilled - resulting in higher structural development.
Why might small businesses reduce hiring if wages for scarce skilled workers rise? (Hint: What does the demand curve for skilled workers look like?)