Even though the employee benefits mandate has been put off until 2015, a substantial number of business owners cite the Affordable Care Act as one of the reasons why they'll be hiring with some degree of caution in 2014, according to a new poll.
Roughly 24 percent of business managers said that they would be looking to recruit more in the coming year in order to fill open positions, job search website CareerBuilder revealed. That's down from 26 percent when a similar survey was performed at the same time in 2013.
Additionally, of those who intend to hire more, approximately one in four said that they wouldn't fill job openings quite as quickly as they did last year – at least not until Washington dealt with the question of whether to raise the federal debt ceiling spending limit.
Matt Ferguson, CEO of the Chicago, Ill.-based labor market intelligence website, noted that for the most part, business owners are optimistic about what 2014 holds from a standpoint of employment. They still have their qualms, though.
"What we saw in our survey was reluctance from some employers to commit to adding jobs until the outcomes of debt negotiations and other issues affecting economic expansion are clearer," said Ferguson. "As these stories play out and employers find their footing in the New Year, there is greater potential for the average monthly job creation in 2014 to exceed that of 2013."
Part-time hiring is expected to rise as well. The poll found that 12 percent of employers intended to employ individuals who work 40 hours of week or less, largely due to the provisions of the ACA.
Businesses that employ more than 50 full-time workers are required to provide health insurance coverage for their workers. However, these benefits are not required to be given to workers who labor or 30 hours a week or less, the government's definition of part-time.
