Business survey highlights NQ labour constraints

Lack of skilled workers has been cited as the key impediment to growth among Townsville businesses opting to maintain status quo. The findings came in the PVW Partners September 2023 quarterly Townsville Business Confidence survey, which showed a small increase in the overall level of confidence compared to the previous quarter. PVW Partners managing partner Carl Valentine said the latest survey had captured additional data to help understand why confidence levels in 2023 had declined compared to those recorded throughout 2021 and 2022. Over the past year responses to the quarterly surveys have indicated the following trends: sustained positive levels of business confidence, but with the level of positivity declining; fewer businesses looking to expand their workforce (with more looking to maintain their existing number of employees); more businesses indicating they plan to reduce their levels of capital expenditure; and growing levels of spare productive capacity in businesses. “These trends seemed to be running counter to what has generally been considered a relatively good business climate for Townsville businesses and we posed a few questions to help us better understand the future plans for our businesses and what, if any, impediments to growth are being experienced,” Mr Valentine said. “Responses to the first of our special questions indicated that around 36 per cent of our businesses are actively growing their businesses and have to date been able to find solutions to the impediments that would otherwise constrain that growth. "However, a further 45 per cent indicated they were working on maintaining and not growing their businesses due to concerns around the future economic climate (18 per cent), apparently insurmountable growth impediments (16 per cent) or a sense that it was time to prepare for harder economic times ahead (11 per cent). "Only 5 per cent of respondents indicated they were looking to reduce the size and scale of their businesses.” The second special question this quarter was targeted at those looking to consolidating operations (maintaining current business operations) due to impediments to growth and explored what they saw as being the key impediments to growth (see results graph below). “In a result that won’t be a surprise to many, almost 41 per cent of respondents indicated the key impediment to growth was the availability of appropriately skilled workers in the local labour market. "Further responses in relation to employees noted that others could find employees outside Townsville but they weren’t able to entice them to relocate to Townsville for available roles (12 per cent). "Of special interest in the discussion around availability of housing in Townsville for new employees, only a little over 3 per cent of respondents cited that as an impediment to their business growth. “Other significant business growth impediments were the cost of expansion, including wage costs (12 per cent), suitable financing options, including consideration of the affordability of finance (10 per cent) and limitations on other resources needed for growth (7 per cent)." Mr Valentine said every stage of the economic cycle represented challenges to our business owners and managers. "While the current cycle still presents opportunities for our businesses, labour constraints continue to be a significant barrier to business growth in our region,” he said.

Business survey highlights NQ labour constraints

Industry Queensland

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