ANZ Sees Businesses' Intention to Hire Turns Negative for First Time in Two Years
November 30, 2022
PHOTO: NICOLE GOURLEY/STUFF
The jobs market is showing more signs of turning south.
More businesses plan to reduce their staff numbers than take on additional workers over the next 12 months, according to ANZ’s latest monthly business confidence survey.
A net 4% of employers told the bank that they expected to reduce the size of their workforce, which the bank said was the first time responses had drifted into negative territory since October 2020.
The survey was conducted too early in the month to be significantly influenced by a hawkish monetary policy statement released by the Reserve Bank last week, or by subsequent comments from its governor Adrian Orr that the central bank intended deliberately engineering a recession.