Business confidence in Queensland remains weak as operating costs and labour challenges take their toll on companies.
Business Chamber Queensland CEO Heidi Cooper said the ongoing challenges were making it “hard to survive, let alone thrive”.
The Chamber’s June 2024 Pulse Report confirmed the longest sustained period of weak business confidence in the 30 years of the sentiment research.
Ms Cooper said the data pointed to ongoing and sustained challenges for the business community.
“The reality is, it’s really hard to do businesses in Queensland, and it has been for two years now,” she said.
“Businesses are reporting persistent and compounding pressures meaning they’re struggling to manage their business day-to-day.
“Businesses are facing historically high operating and labour costs, a restrictive employment and regulatory environment, and a tight labour market.
“We’re seeing continually weak sales revenue combined with stable and satisfactory average selling prices, which indicates businesses are not passing on full input cost increase to consumers.”
The survey findings included:
- Four in five businesses reported an increase in operating costs in the June quarter.
- Reduced consumer spending is impacting the bottom line for businesses.
- Volatile markets are causing business to put investment and spending decisions on hold.
- Skills shortages remain a constraint on business.
- Reduced revenue is making it hard for businesses to absorb property, energy, fuel, insurance and labour costs increases.
On the upside, businesses were more confident they could benefit from the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games after focussing on the recent Paris games.
They also saw the upcoming Queensland State election as an opportunity for genuine policy reform.
Business confidence for the next 12 months was up 2.3 on the pulse index. This was the largest quarterly improvement in two years but, overall, the index remained at a weak level.
Ms Cooper said labour costs were at a historically high level and pushing up operating costs.
“The outcome is businesses are working harder but not seeing the profitability or productivity gains to match,” she said.
“For more than two years business have been telling us workforce challenges have been among the most significant constraints on their growth and in June we saw that continue.”
Download Pulse Report Survey of Business Conditions June Quarter 2024
