Australian small and medium businesses have moved on from the financial crisis and are now concerned about finding suitable staff, a new survey has revealed.
New figures released today from DBM Consultants’ Business Financial Services Monitor show that 53 percent of SMEs reported in August that they were concerned about the global financial crisis, down from 70 percent in February. Their focus is now on hiring new staff, with 17 percent now expecting to hire staff, up from 14 percent in February.
Commenting on the results, DBM Consultants managing director, Mr Dhruba Gupta said: “Many of Australia’s two million SMEs are now pre-occupied with issues other than the global financial crisis. In fact, almost one in five SMEs [380,000 businesses] reported last month that their biggest concern was finding suitable staff.”
Gupta said SME confidence is climbing as the economy improves, with 51 percent expecting revenues to grow over the next 12 months, compared to 35 percent in February.
“This is a very positive indicator and consistent with some recent forecasts that the rise in unemployment in the wake of the GFC may not be as bad as first feared,” Gupta said.
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