Business Confidence stories

Blue Yonder survey finds supply chain leaders are less confident for 2026, with geopolitical shocks exposing slower response times despite rising AI investment.

Vero survey finds 63% of New Zealand SMEs saw revenue fall, with rising costs, tax changes and weak confidence weighing on smaller firms.

Entrepreneurs increasingly see AI as a tool for efficiency and cost-cutting, not a springboard to new markets or sustainability goals.

Late payments are pushing more Australian small firms into debt, draining weeks on chasing invoices and fuelling rising financial stress.

New Zealand small firms notch strongest sales in three years as December spending surges and easing interest rates speed up payments.

New Zealand employers plan pay rises and richer perks as economic optimism grows, with 84% expecting the outlook to lift staff salaries.

New Zealand SMEs lifted staff hours but eased wage growth in January, leaning on existing rosters as they cautiously test post-holiday demand.

New Zealand investors are warned AI-fuelled gains face “incredible danger” from US inflation, soaring debt and turbulent midterms ahead.

Trans-Tasman small firms are upbeat and boosting tech and marketing, yet consumers report patchy service and missing digital basics.

Spark and Icehouse will run free nationwide AI and productivity workshops to help New Zealand SMEs lift performance and overcome tech barriers.

NZ adds more jobs but works fewer hours as high-paid tech roles, casual shifts and young workers' pay all slide, new data shows.

New Zealand firms plan bigger tech budgets as optimism grows, shifting AI from pilots to scaled deployments despite talent and cyber strains.

Global CEOs pin 2026 hopes on APAC growth and soaring AI spend, despite geopolitical risks and investor pressure for faster returns.

Despite rising costs and softening profits, 92% of New Zealand's SMEs remain confident in their business outlook over the next year and five years ahead.

Duality Technologies partners with Google Cloud to deliver confidential AI using NVIDIA GPUs, enabling secure, scalable large language model training for enterprises.

NZ small businesses saw 1.9% sales growth year-on-year, but jobs fell 1.2%, with sectors like construction and hospitality facing ongoing challenges.

Job ads in New Zealand rose 0.6% in July, marking a spring recruitment surge as tourism and IT sectors prepare for a busy summer season.

Searches for “PR Agency Auckland” hit a five-year peak, signalling strong growth as Kiwi tech firms boost funding, launches, and international expansion.

Confidence in New Zealand's civil construction sector has fallen sharply despite a USD $207 billion infrastructure pipeline and growing tech adoption.

The VivaTech Confidence Barometer shows 85% of tech firms prioritising AI investment, with US executives most optimistic about national competitiveness.