October 2026
Owners With 1 to 4 Employees Rank Managing Them 61st of 75 Problems. At 20 to 49, It Ranks 9th.
NFIB asked 2,873 owners to rate 75 problems. Managing employees sits near the bottom for the smallest firms and climbs into the top ten by 20 staff.
At Firms Under Two Years Old, Settled Workers’ Jobs End 1.6 Times as Often. Nearly Nine-Tenths of the Gap Is Jobs That Disappear.
Census data, 2024: at firms 0–1 years old, 13.6% of settled workers’ jobs ended each quarter. At firms 11+ years old, 8.3%. Most of the gap is jobs cut.
Most Employers With Fewer Than 20 People Track No Key Performance Indicators. Half of Those With 1 to 4 Set No Targets.
Census asked U.S. employers how many KPIs they tracked. At firms with 1–4 employees, 72.4% said none. At firms with 500 or more staff: 18.4%.
At Firms With 1 to 4 Employees, Most Lost Jobs Go When a Workplace Closes. At Every Larger Size, Most Go by Shrinking.
Census data, 2013–2022: at firms that began the year with 1–4 employees, 63% of lost jobs went when a workplace closed. At 5–9 employees: 37%.
Under 10 Employees, the Top Problem Is Customers. From 20 Up, It Is Finding and Keeping Staff.
Fed survey: 58% of firms with 1–4 employees named reaching customers as a challenge, 37% named staff. At 50–499 employees, staff led at 64%.
More Than Half of Manufacturing Plants Rarely or Never Move an Underperforming Manager
In Census's 2021 management survey, 55.1% of manufacturing plants rarely or never moved an underperforming manager. For other staff: 44.6%.