Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) need to do more if they are to compete with larger companies on recruitment, according to one expert.
A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said today that SMEs who wanted to become the "employer of choice" needed to improve what they can offer in terms of healthcare and support.
Stephen Alambritis, head of public affairs at the FSB, said that although many smaller companies cannot afford to do this some support is available through their new FSB Care service.
"By small businesses grouping together, we’re able to offer this care service that brings them up to speed with what is available within the large company scene," he said.
He added that the service had been set up in response to the growing number of larger companies who are able to tempt employees with occupational health centres and on-call doctors and nurses for staff
"We felt it was unfair that small business can't have that kind of service for themselves," he said.
The FSB currently counts over 205,000 members in the UK and supports and campaigns on behalf of those who are either self-employed or run smaller companies.
