Weekly Newsletter – September 14, 2025 -

September 14, 2025 – As businesses navigate the final quarter of 2025, three key areas demand attention: persistent hiring challenges amid economic uncertainty, significant tax changes affecting liquidity, and innovative approaches to charitable giving. This edition of Small-Biz Pulse explores actionable strategies for each, offering practical guidance for business leaders seeking resilience and growth in today’s complex environment.

Hiring Challenges and Paths to Recovery

The current hiring landscape remains constrained by persistent skills gaps, shifting candidate expectations, and macroeconomic uncertainty. Recruiters identify talent shortages, remote-work complexity, DEI pressures, AI/automation trade-offs, candidate “ghosting,” longer hiring cycles, and budget constraints as the top pain points for 2025 hiring programs Source.

A slowing economy raises recession risk and drives cyclical hiring behavior—companies typically cut contingent labor first and re-hire it early in recovery. Historical patterns show staffing is among the first industries to fall and rebound after downturns, so staffing firms should prepare for rapid demand swings and potential liquidity challenges Source.

The most durable constraint remains capability, not just headcount. Organizations should prioritize targeted reskilling/AI-fluency programs and embed learning in workflows to close skills gaps without significant productivity losses Source.

Tactical priorities to accelerate recovery include:

Tightening candidate experience and speed: simplify applications, automate screenings, and fast-track priority offers to reduce drop-off Source.
Balancing AI with human touch: automate routine screening while maintaining human involvement for high-touch interviews and final decisions Source.
Diversifying client mix and service models: add recession-resilient verticals and expand contingent offerings to flex with demand Source.
Protecting cash and planning scenarios: run predictive cash-flow forecasts and secure credit lines to avoid liquidity stress during “false springs” Source.

Some analysts view 2025 not simply as recovery but as a structural reset, with AI and candidate expectations reshaping hiring models Source. Leaders should focus on two high-leverage moves this quarter (e.g., shortening application-to-offer time; securing contingency funding) paired with one capability build (e.g., an AI-fluency training program).

Tax Changes and Liquidity: What CFOs and Advisors Should Act On Now

Recent federal tax changes—notably provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—have freed meaningful near-term cash flow for corporations through accelerated expensing and looser interest-deduction rules. These changes represent both a liquidity opportunity and a planning imperative for businesses of all sizes Source.

OBBBA restores full domestic R&D expensing and makes 100% bonus depreciation broadly available for qualifying property acquired after January 19, 2025, boosting immediate deductions and preserving liquidity for investment Source.

The bill also restores an EBITDA addback when computing the section 163(j) limit, allowing higher interest deductibility and improving after-tax cash flow for leveraged businesses Source.

While large, capital-intensive companies typically capture the biggest dollar benefit, small and midsized businesses risk being left behind due to limited tax resources, awareness, or documentation to claim retroactive or accelerated relief Source.

Separate 2025 tax-rule changes (including increased gift/estate exclusion) create tax-planning and liquidity considerations for wealthy individuals and family-owned businesses that advisors should coordinate with broader wealth strategies Source.

Practical next steps for finance leaders and tax advisors include:

Running a prioritized eligibility check for R&D, bonus-depreciation, and interest-deduction opportunities.
Modeling cash-flow impact to quantify near-term liquidity benefits versus long-term tax effects.
Ensuring thorough documentation for R&D and capital purchases to withstand audits.
Providing turnkey checklists for smaller firms to capture benefits they might otherwise miss Source.
Coordinating with wealth teams on borrowing, estate-gifting, and timing of liquidity events for owner-managed firms Source.

Donations as Impact Investments: Practical Models and First Steps

Donations can be structured not merely as one-way grants but as impact investments that recycle capital, earn financial returns, and amplify philanthropic outcomes. Several practical models make this approach accessible to foundations, donor-advised funds, and high-net-worth donors.

Some foundations formally earmark a portion of their capital for “mission-related” investments and evaluate opportunities by philanthropic contribution before financial approval. Realdania, for example, established an “impact-first” approach, allocating up to 5% of its endowment to pursue investable opportunities aligned with its mission Source.

Donors can direct philanthropic dollars into impact venture funds or social enterprises so returns grow the giving pool Source. Individual donors can also align personal investments with values (ESG/sustainable strategies) and combine that with targeted giving or advocacy Source.

Key implementation steps include:

Defining objectives: clarifying whether the goal is capital preservation, market-rate returns, or impact-first outcomes Source.
Setting allocation and governance: determining a carve-out percentage and establishing who reviews philanthropic versus financial due diligence Source.
Screening current assets: identifying holdings that conflict with mission and surfacing reinvestment opportunities Source.
Choosing appropriate vehicles: considering direct program-related investments, impact funds, or donor-advised vehicles that fit tax constraints Source.
Measuring, reporting, and iterating: publishing impact assessments to improve sourcing and attract co-investors Source.

It’s worth noting that local tax and incentive regimes affect aggregation and donor behavior—mobilizing pooled philanthropic capital can be more difficult where tax incentives are limited Source.

Sources

As we navigate the final months of 2025, these three areas—talent strategy, tax optimization, and impact-oriented philanthropy—offer complementary paths to resilience and growth. By addressing hiring challenges with both short-term tactics and long-term capability building, leveraging tax changes to improve liquidity, and exploring innovative philanthropic models, businesses can position themselves for sustainable success despite economic uncertainty. The common thread across all three domains is the need for proactive planning, specialized expertise, and a strategic balance between immediate action and long-term investment.