30% of businesses planning to hire

caf said :

We’re getting daily reports of imminent doom because imminent doom sells newspapers.

Couldn’t have put it better myself. Although when I say it I’m told I’m in the denial phase.

I personally think we are actually seeing the result of a self for-filling prophesy here. The media says it’s bad, so things become bad.

Read the linked to article.

Hmm, just because 60% are going to maintain staff levels and 11% are going to shed staff doesn’t necessarily mean that the remainder, i.e. the quoted 30%, are hiring. This remained group includes the ‘don’t knows’, ‘no comment’, ‘not sures’, ‘wait and see’, as well as ‘we’re hiring’.

I’d also suggest that even at 30%, it represents a very low number, particularly if the 11% are shedding 10’s of jobs and the 30% are only hiring 1 or 2.

ant said :

Does that mean they’re going to close? I’d better nick down and get some more of their biros! They’re excellent. You get 6 for $1.50, with rubber grips, and they write really nicely.

But PeterH’s report is teh kind of thing I’m wondering about. So far it’s been bankers jumping out of windows. But this retail group collapsing will affect many, this is teh kind of effect that we might see spreading out like pond ripples.

I’m not game to dismiss the whole thing yet.

ant, the collapse of ADR is more from extending resources when the profits had slipped, and owing far too much to the banks.

if we weren’t in a downturn, this would have happened anyway. the banking consortia that they were lending from has said that they owed over 96m. Just to the banks. They (hindsight is wonderful) traded so cheaply, with foreign importers, that their profit margin was very small. if they had raised the margins, perhaps they would have been around a bit longer.

Does that mean they’re going to close? I’d better nick down and get some more of their biros! They’re excellent. You get 6 for $1.50, with rubber grips, and they write really nicely.

But PeterH’s report is teh kind of thing I’m wondering about. So far it’s been bankers jumping out of windows. But this retail group collapsing will affect many, this is teh kind of effect that we might see spreading out like pond ripples.

I’m not game to dismiss the whole thing yet.

Australian direct retail group has collapsed. In receivership, with the following companies effected:

Go-Lo, Crazy Clarks and Sam’s Warehouse. 3,500 jobs gone.

here is the article if you are interested:

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Free-Articles/The-Briefing/20090121-Discount-retail-chains-collapse-with-debts-of-201-million.html

We’re all doomed. Mr Swan said so…

just as long as he doesn’t tell us we need a recession….

We seem to have gone from newspapers predicting dire economic consequences from critical skills and labour shortages to newspapers predicting dire economic consequences to massive unemplyment in the space of a week or two.

We had a fast growing economy, it will take a while to grind to a halt.

Reports shmaports – whatever!

I’m not sure Wayne Swan is interested in selling newspapers, but he and his boss have been pretty categorical in their statements forecasting near-doom.