- A report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has shown that 37 per cent of businesses have experienced supply chain disruption in February
- The most common reason was domestic and international travel delays, followed by supply constraints and increased prices
- The survey has also asked businesses whether existing employees were unavailable to work due to COVID-19
- It found 15 per cent of employing businesses had staff who could not work due to COVID-19 related issues, this is a decreased from 22 per cent of businesses in January
Over a third of all businesses, or 37 per cent, have experienced supply chain disruption in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The ABS survey found that the most common supply chain issue was domestic and international travel delays. Other issues included supply constraints and increased prices, such as transport.
ABS undertook the survey between February 17 and 24th.
“This latest data shows supply chain issues had eased compared to January where nearly half of all businesses (47 per cent) reported having them, but still remained at elevated levels compared to when the survey was last collected in April 2021 (30 per cent),” ABS Head of Industry Statistics John Shepherd said.
The survey has also asked businesses whether existing employees were unavailable to work due to COVID-19.
It showed 15 per cent of employing businesses had staff who could not work due to COVID-19 related issues, this is a decrease from 22 per cent of businesses in January.
“Large businesses were more than four times as likely to report these absences (58 per cent) compared to small businesses (14 per cent),” Mr Shepherd said.
“Conversely, more small businesses reported they could not cover the hours lost using existing employees (35 per cent) than large businesses (15 per cent).”