According to the EY Global Job Creation Survey 2016, entrepreneurs are more than twice as likely to be hiring new staff this year as large corporates.
The survey of nearly 2,700 entrepreneurs globally also finds that disruptive entrepreneurs (who change some or all of the rules of their sector) and innovative entrepreneurs (who have created a brand new product or service in the past year) are also growing their workforces at a much faster rate than more conventional entrepreneurs. The research has been launched ahead of the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year™ event.
59% of entrepreneurs globally expect to increase their workforce in 2016, more than double the proportion of large businesses expecting to do so and organic growth is a clear priority for entrepreneurs this year
Mark Weinberger, EY Global Chairman and CEO, said: “The disruptive force of technology is transforming individual companies and creating entirely new sectors. In this environment, entrepreneurs are pivotal drivers of global job creation, and in some cases are navigating economic and political uncertainty better than established players.
“Technology is also transforming some of the most fundamental aspects of how we do business. This evolution will change what job skills are needed, which new businesses are created, it will impact our education systems and will challenge our regulatory systems.”
Confidence is driving a global appetite to hire
Over half (59%) of the entrepreneurs from 12 key markets surveyed expect to increase their total global workforce in the next 12 months, up from 47% in 2015, a jump of 25% year-on-year. What’s more, the proportion of entrepreneurs planning to hire this year is more than double that of large corporations (28%), according to EY’s latest Capital Confidence Barometer.
Taking into account all anticipated workforce changes for 2016, entrepreneurs expect to grow their overall global workforce by 9.3%, and expect 12% of new hires to be young people in their first jobs.
India, China and Brazil top the leader board in terms of the proportion of their entrepreneurs anticipating growth. Indian and Brazilian entrepreneurs also expect to hire at a faster rate than anywhere else, but China’s rate of growth is slower than the global average (8.5%). France, Canada, the UK and the US follow closely behind in hiring expectations, with entrepreneurs in the UK leading the developed markets by rate of growth, at 10.5%. Entrepreneurs in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA), Japan and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are least likely to anticipate growing their overall workforce in the year ahead.
Source: EY