SMEs are responsible for the 85% of net new jobs created in the EU between 2002 and 2010

According to the results of a Commission's study, 85% of net new jobs1 in the EU between 2002 and 2010 were created by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Overall, the employment growth for SMEs (with 1% annually) was higher than for large enterprises with 0.5%. A clear exception is the trade sector, in which employment in SMEs increased by 0.7% annually, compared to 2.2% in large enterprises.
 

The main results of a study on the essential contribution of SMEs on job creation presented by the European Commission show that SMEs are responsible for 85% of net new jobs in the EU between 2002 and 2010. During this period, net employment in the EU's business economy rose substantially, by an average of 1.1 million new jobs each year. The employment growth for SMEs was higher than for large enterprises with the exceptions such as the trade sector, in which employment in SMEs increased by 0.7% annually, compared to 2.2% in large enterprises. This is due to the strong increase of large trade enterprises, in particular in sales, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles. According to another recent published Commission's report, SMEs remain the EU's economic backbone.

Among the findings, the study shows that within the SME size-class, micro firms (less than 10 employees) are responsible with 58% for the highest proportion of total net employment growth in the business economy. In addition, new firms (younger than five years) are responsible for an overwhelming majority of the new jobs. New enterprises operating in business services create more than a quarter (27%) of the new jobs, while the new firms in transport and communication contribute least (6%).

The study also shows that innovation seems to have a positive effect because innovative enterprises, as well as enterprises from more innovative countries, more often report employment growth and have higher employment growth rates. The survey underlines that innovative SMEs or companies operating in more innovative economies suffered less from the economic crisis.