A recently conducted survey has found that nearly half of the country’s businesses are doing as well, if not better, than they were before the first impacts of the pandemic were felt within Australia in March.
According to the November Sensis Business Index, nearly one-third of the nation’s businesses (30%) say they are back to pre Covid-19 levels, with a further 12% reporting that are actually “well ahead”.
Generally, regional businesses are going strong, with 4% more of the subset reporting they’re doing better than they were at the start of the year now as compared to those in cities.
State-wise, Tasmania is leading the pack with 21% of its businesses “well ahead” of pre-Covid levels; Western Australia and Queensland both came in at 15%. New South Wales followed right around the average at 11%; perhaps unsurprisingly, just 7% of Victorian businesses indicated they’re doing better now than they were before the pandemic.
Of the groups who feel they’re about even with where they were pre-pandemic, the ACT came in strongest at 41%, followed by South Australia at 36%, Queensland at 35% and Western Australia at 31%. Victoria also lagged in this category, with just 21% of businesses having regained their pre-Covid footing.
The Sensis survey also found nearly one in three businesses believe the loss of JobKeeper at the end of March will have a major impact on their operations.
An estimated 3.5m Australians, or around one in four workers, have been paid JobKeeper. The loss is expected to be felt more deeply in metropolitan areas, with 35% of respondents saying the cessation of the support will have a major impact to them, as compared to just 14% in regional areas.
According to Sensis CEO John Allan, the loss will be felt most acutely in Victoria and Queensland.
“Thirty-five per cent of small businesses in those two states said the loss of JobKeeper would have a major impact. We were expecting Victorian businesses to take a hit, but were surprised that Queenslanders also expect to be badly affected,” he said.
The survey, conducted in November, aggregated responses from 500 business owners and managers from all states and spanning 10 business sectors, the majority of which (59%) have been operating for more than 10 years and 25% of which had 50 employees or more.
