COVID-19 related staff absences impact 22% of businesses

More than one in five (22%) employing businesses had staff who were unavailable to work due to issues related to COVID-19, according to results released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Commenting on the figures which cover the period between 27th January and 4th February, ABS Head of Industry Statistics, John Shepherd, advised “large businesses were three times as likely to report these absences (65%) compared to small businesses (20%).”

“For businesses with staff absent, the most common reasons for this were self-isolation or quarantine requirements (82%) and staff having COVID-19 symptoms or illness (73%).”

The results showed, almost half of all businesses experienced supply chain disruptions in January 2022 (47%).

Shepherd added “in January 2022, more businesses were impacted by supply chain disruptions compared to April 2021, where 30% of businesses experienced supply chain issues.”

In January 2022, half of businesses with supply chain disruptions responded by changing ordering processes (50%). The second most common response to the disruptions was for the business to increase the price of their goods or services (42%).

Further information is available in the ABS’ Business Conditions and Sentiments (Cat. No. 5676.0.55.003). Click here for more information.