Benchmark
Supporting Small Businesses Pays Off for Jobs
Small- and medium-sized firms now account for more than a third of employment, ILO says in World Employment Social Outlook
Small businesses line Bagley Avenue in Southwest Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Photographer: Bryan Mitchell/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Politicians looking to boost local employment might want to forget thinking big and focus on small businesses instead of multinationals.
That’s the conclusion from the International Labor Organization’s latest World Employment Social Outlook which shows that the number of full-time employees at small and medium-sized enterprises nearly doubled between 2003 and 2016, with the share of total employment attributable to the sector rising to 35 percent from 31 percent.