Small businesses will be big hirers in 2015

Australia's small businesses are among the most enthusiastic when it comes to hiring intentions for 2015, at least according to a recent study from the recruitment firm Manpower.

The survey suggested that the number of enterprises looking to take on new employees in 2015 had the greatest concentration among smaller companies. In fact, organisations with between 10 and 49 employees had a net hiring outlook of 12 per cent.

This was well ahead of the scores recorded by larger entities. Medium firms – those with between 50 and 249 workers – reported a hiring intention of only 7 per cent, while organisations with more than 250 workers only reached 2 per cent.

These net employment outlooks were calculated by subtracting the percentage of firms that are looking to reduce the size of their staff from those that are looking to add them.

In total, 19 per cent of Australian firms reported they expect to increase the size of their payroll throughout 2015.

For small businesses in particular, it will be important to have the right support in place to manage a growing workforce. A chartered accountant will be able to help companies handle any growth in their staffing numbers, while also providing advice on how best to grow a small business.

By state, some are predicted to see greater hiring levels than others. New South Wales recorded a 11 per cent net outlook for the first quarter of 2015, one of the highest scores seen by any state. This was also up 5 percentage points on the year before and well above the national average of only 8 per cent.

The Northern Territory and the Queensland both recorded higher results (15 and 14 per cent respectively). Every other state recorded lower results as hiring remains muted in other parts of Australia.