A survey of an independent panel of 202 Australian SME business owners, commissioned by Corporate Traveller, Flight Centre Travel Group’s SME business travel specialist division has revealed the hopeful outlook Australian small-to-medium sized businesses have for their future recovery.
The survey found that while 78 per cent of Australian SMEs were negatively impacted by the global pandemic, among these 76 per cent expect to recover by the end of 2023 or had already recovered.
From the survey, Corporate Traveller found just 22 per cent of businesses had not been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Among the businesses that have been impacted, one in three (32 per cent) said they expected to recover by the end of 2022, and one in three (33 per cent) in 2023.
One in four (23 per cent) revealed that their recovery would likely occur after 2023, while 11 per cent of businesses said they had already recovered. Just two per cent revealed they will never recover or had closed their business in the last two years.
Corporate Traveller Global Managing Director Tom Walley said, “It’s promising to see that a high proportion of SMEs are hopeful for their recovery and are likely to bounce back over the next 18 months.”
“Many SMEs experienced financial hardship or were forced to hibernate, and even close, during the pandemic. This also impacted our economy. However, with business success on the horizon, Australia’s economy can also enjoy a much-needed boost.”
Businesses were also asked to identify the factors, from a list of 11, that they believe will aid their recovery. Australia’s economic recovery would have the biggest positive impact on SMEs, followed by a return to travel, returning to the workplace to boost employee engagement and productivity and recruiting better and additional talent will help.
“Thanks to the recently announced Federal Budget, more SMEs will be able to tap into the very resources and assistance they said they needed to hasten their recovery. For instance, the Government will invest $21 billion in tax cuts to reduce the tax rate to the lowest level in five decades. Businesses will also be able to access new technologies and tax relief for training to upskill their employees,” Tom Walley added.
The full survey results, across state and organisation sizes, can be found here corporatetraveller.com.au/resources/insights/sme-business-sector-recovery
