Worker shortage, supply chain issues 'challenging' small businesses: CPA

‘Consumers are paying more’ as businesses struggle to hire, Gene Marks said

CPA and small business expert Gene Marks joined FOX Business’ "Mornings with Maria" and said worker shortages, due to unemployment benefits, and supply chain challenges are making it particularly hard for small companies struggling to recover from the pandemic.

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GENE MARKS: The economy is certainly picking up. So that's really good news. But right now, all of my clients -- the people that I speak to in the small business community -- are really struggling to find workers and also dealing with supply chain issues. Those are the two big issues that they've got going into the summer. And it's making what could be a good recovery, really, really challenging for a lot of small businesses. 

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If you're running a restaurant or a retail shop and trying to find workers for the states that are still allowing [this] unemployment compensation to go through, many workers are just finding it much more easier for them to stay home and more profitable for them to do that. So that's a big problem. 

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So what can [businesses] do? They have to pay people more and in return, they've got to turn around and increase their prices. So it means that consumers are paying more as well. So just finding those workers isn't enough. It's a matter of giving them compensation. They're challenged because they're also competing against larger companies that are grabbing up those workers and the government and paying them more than what a typical small business can offer. 

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