Most Small Business Owners Expect Rebound Soon

According to Administaff, one sign of this is that 60% of owners and managers it surveyed said they are maintaining current staffing levels, while 23% are adding new positions, up from the 18% in the survey conducted three months ago. Layoffs were named by 16% of respondents as a current management strategy versus 19% in May, according to the most recent Business Confidence Survey by Administaff.

The survey also revealed that 68% of participants expect to maintain employee compensation at current levels for the remainder of this year; 10% plan increases; 6% expect decreases; and 16% were unsure.

According to a press release on the survey, more than 58% of small business owners expect an economic turnaround in 2010, while 14% anticipate a rebound by the end of 2009. Fourteen percent of owners said they think the recovery will be in 2011 or later.

The economy was listed by 83% of business owners as their biggest concern for 2009, followed by government health care reform (53%), controlling operating costs (44%), and rising health care costs (33%). However, for 2010 and later, concern about the overall state of the economy fell to fourth place.

In the survey conducted late last month , 60% of owners and managers surveyed said they are either meeting or exceeding their 2009 performance plans, with the remaining 40% reporting that they are doing worse than expected.