Jones said while businesses continued to find economic conditions difficult, they could see light at the end of the tunnel and were making plans to “springboard for that growth”.
Almost two-thirds of businesses planning to grow were looking to invest in hiring, retaining and training staff, with many focused on the latter two. With unemployment rising to 4.2 per cent in July and expected to peak at 4.6 per cent, according to NAB, employers were still expressing a desire to retain staff.
Dean Pearson, the head of behavioural and industry economics at NAB, said organisations were more likely to cut employees’ hours than making them redundant, fuelling concerns of rising underemployment.
“There’s no doubt that when unemployment…
