Auckland business more confident, despite staff shortages

By NZPA

Tuesday 27th March 2007

Confidence continues to rise among Auckland businesses, despite increasing difficulties in finding skilled staff that threatens growth, a survey shows.

Business confidence has risen for the sixth consecutive quarter for both the general business environment and for companies' own activity, the Auckland Chamber of Commerce said in its quarterly survey.

Among the 800 respondents, 23% expected general business conditions to improve over the next six months, up from 8% a year earlier.

55% expected their own business outlook to improve, up from 40% a year earlier.

However, the overall level of difficulty in finding skilled staff rose to 46%, from 38% in the previous survey three months ago. Difficulty in recruiting unskilled staff also rose, to 16% from 13%.

More companies were finding demand the biggest limit on expansion -- 39%, up six percentage points from December -- followed by labour on 20%.

"The early signs of a downturn in confidence emerging sends a message to Government suggesting it needs a focused strategy to overcome the shortages of skills and unskilled staff in New Zealand if it wants to secure a progressive, growth-led economy," said chamber chief executive Michael Barnett.

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