Confidence rises among small businesses

Nearly a third of small business employers are planning to increase their permanent staff numbers by the end of the year, according to the latest employment expectations survey from recruiters Hudson.

Roman Rogers, executive general manager for Hudson New Zealand, says although overall confidence has only increased slightly, the result among SMBs shows things are looking up.

"Businesses of 20 employees or fewer make up over 95% of our businesses here in New Zealand,” Rogers says, "and account for 30% of employees.

"These small businesses are able to quickly respond to rising consumer confidence, so we would expect this uplift in hiring intentions to flow through to medium and large enterprises in the coming months.”

The report, based on interviews with over 1000 employers, showed 22.5% planned to increase their headcount in the upcoming quarter, up 0.5% on the previous quarter and 2.7% on the same period last year.

For SMBs, the figure was 32.7%.

In the IT sector, 51.4% of employers planned to increase staff, as businesses continue to invest in technology.

"By talking to our clients throughout the country, we know there are good things happening and there is a positive feeling about the year ahead,” Rogers says.

Go here to read the report.