"We are holding off on new hires right now, because it is really tough dealing with a lot of the labor laws in California," said Tim Chen, founder and CEO of NerdWallet, a website that helps people select the right credit card for their spending habits.
Payroll taxes, social security taxes, unemployment insurance, long-term disability, and mandatory health care make bringing on a full-time employee a significant investment, he said.
The small firm, which launched in March of 2010, makes money every time a consumer gets approved for a credit card. During economic boom times, many people were getting approved for credit cards. Now, not so much.
"We get paid per approval, so our revenue is extremely tied to how well the economy is doing," said Chen. "While we do have a budget and desire to hire more people right now, we are playing it safe, because we don't know where the economy is going right now."
Chen recently hired the company's third employee, but that person had been with the company for a while as a part-timer and was "amazingly productive," said Chen.
So for now, hiring is on hiatus. And his focus is on the employment rate and GDP growth. "That is all I care about," said Chen.
Los Angeles is just one of 10 most affordable cities for doing business, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City. More
