Small businesses renting serviced offices in Edinburgh may be some of the enterprises recruiting less often because of money worries.
This is the suggestion made in a statement from a spokeswoman for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which recently analysed the issue in its Voice for Small Business survey.
"Insufficient work and uncertainty over contracts, the state of the economy, cash-flow and access to finance as well as the cost of credit" are some of the things the poll found prevents small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from increasing their workforce, she declared.
The representative stated that reduced national insurance contributions and assured 20-day payment of invoices would encourage SMEs to hire more people.
"Small firms want to employ but need incentives to do so," the FSB spokeswoman concluded.
This follows the release of the Manpower Employment Outlook, which found job creation is largely due to SMEs, as their hiring intentions are set to increase by eight per cent in the upcoming quarter.
Among larger businesses, this has declined and is now flat.
