Confidence on rise in Hawke's Bay study

Business and employment confidence in Hawke's Bay is on the up but trading through the tough economic climate, now in its fourth year, is going to be a careful "long game".

Those working in the export sector, trading with businesses outside of Hawke's Bay or overseas, and those linked to a major supply chain, such as the food industry, will be among the desirable industries to work in during 2012.

Those were the predictions by Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive Murray Douglas upon reading results of the McDermott Miller New Zealand Employment Confidence Survey for the December 2011 quarter.

It showed confidence for the Hawke's Bay/Gisborne region was down compared to the previous quarter in September 2011, but on the up compared to the same period the previous year.

"We are ahead in confidence year-on-year being more optimistic than December 2010," Douglas said.

"This contrasts with many other provincial areas where conditions are perceived as markedly less favourable than a year ago."

Investment by Watties, Enza, Port of Napier and PanPac in Hawke's Bay would help drive overall confidence in Hawke's Bay this year.

"If you are based here but trading outside of Hawke's Bay, you have got a good shot at doing well this year, it could be an urban-based business but one which has its market elsewhere," Douglas said.

"This model works well for Hawke's Bay businesses because our overheads and cost of service here are lower than Auckland and Wellington, therefore we have got an edge."

Douglas said those working as a service attached to a major supply chain, such as a food exporter, would be in demand during 2012.

"We could be talking about food processing for an international market because at the end of the day the world needs food and the major food suppliers need other services such as packaging, labels, suppliers and exporters," he said.

Business Hawke's Bay was expected to announce the appointment of Central Hawke's Bay man Jim Poppelwell, a brand development and research consultant who had previously worked in Shanghai, China.

"He's a part-time appointment to Business Hawke's Bay and his job will be to help us promote better business with China," Douglas said.

Businesses overall would continue to scrutinise their long-term plans and be prudent in the way they operated through the year.

"It's fair to say that our businesses are stressed. This is now the fourth year of a recession and most have their models cautiously thought out," Douglas said.

How survey is conducted

The McDermott Miller New Zealand Employment Confidence index is based on a survey of a representative ample of 1567 households interviewed during December 1-11, 2011.

It asks whether people feel jobs are plentiful or hard to get, what job opportunities will be like in a year's time, whether they are earning more or less compared to a year ago, what their earnings will be like in a year and how secure they feel in their job.

New Zealand Institute of Economic Research quarterly survey of business opinion will be released by the end of January and will provide a steer on the state of the labour market. It asks business about their hiring decisions.