Small businesses struggle to fill vacancies Analysis by accounting service Xero suggests that a difficult jobs market is holding small businesses back, with 7.4% fewer people working in small firms than there were in February 2020. Alexander von Schirmeister, UK managing director at Xero, said: “Small businesses are very worried about finding people … It’s getting really, really tough and it’s putting these businesses under pressure.” He added that “even when the growth opportunities are there they can’t leverage them because they just don’t have the internal labour to satisfy the demand that’s coming their way.” Meanwhile, Xero also found that revenues at small businesses rose 13.5% in March but remain behind pre-pandemic levels. The increase partly reflects higher prices being charged by small businesses, alongside rising orders.