Employment Problems in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the UK - Essay Example

Employment problems in small and medium sized enterprises in UK More and more studies show the importance of the small and medium sized enterprises in the UK economy. The Department for Business and Skills estimated the SMEs to be 99% of all enterprises contributing £1,589 billion to the UK economy as of 2008. However, the growth of SME does not match employment, as there has been a decrease of employment in this sector as gathered from DBIS statistics. According to Boyes & Melvin (2002, p. 175) unemployment has been high among teenagers, higher between women and men, higher in blacks and other minority groups than whites. The fall in employment in UK, as stated by the DBIS is estimated at 0.74 percent to 13.6 percent million workers. It has likewise estimated a decrease in private sector employment in UK by 309,000, or 1.3% as compared to its 2008 employment figures. Reasons for employment reduction in the SME sector will be investigated to provide information that could be used as basis for government policy decisions. Since the problems of SMEs lead to failure and eventually employment reduction, it is also important that that these problems be pinpointed as well. The problems of small and medium sized enterprises The European Commission and McQuaid (2003) gave distinctions to a small and medium sized enterprise. In this respect, SME is categorized as Wisegeek. Frictional unemployment definition. Viewed 01 November 2010 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-frictional-unemployment.htm Read More