City businesses lose confidence

By MARK FRYER


Auckland businesses are finding it harder to look on the bright side, according to an Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce survey.

Of the nearly 500 firms surveyed this month, about 85 per cent said they expected the general business situation to stay the same or worsen in the next six months.

That was a marked turnaround from the previous survey, in December, when 78 per cent of those taking part expected general business conditions to stay the same or improve.

In both surveys, about 50 per cent of businesses opted for "remain the same", but the proportion expecting an improvement halved - from 30 per cent in December to 14 per cent this month. Pessimists almost doubled - from 19 per cent in December to 36 per cent this month.

Although they may be worried about the big picture, businesspeople are much more optimistic about their own prospects: 84 per cent expect their own business situation to stay the same or get better over the next six months, only slightly lower than the 90 per cent who answered that way in December.

The survey was carried out from March 9 to March 15, and included 484 business owners, general managers and key decision makers.

The firms were located in the greater Auckland region and most were relatively small - about two-thirds employed 10 staff or fewer.

Despite the pessimism, 75 per cent of those surveyed expect their profitability to rise or stay the same, with only 24 per cent expecting a fall.

The results also point to a rise in hiring, 27 per cent of firms expecting to hire more full-time employees over the three months ahead.

Fifty-five per cent expect full-time worker numbers to stay the same and only 10 per cent are expecting a fall.

And 44 per cent of firms expect an increase in the number of hours worked over the next three months, compared with 42 per cent staying the same and 12 per cent expecting fewer hours.

Asked which single factor was holding back their ability to expand, "demand" was the most common answer, cited by 33 per cent of those surveyed.