Australia's big firms are expecting jobs growth to flatline in 2014.
Cost management remains the biggest issue for chief financial officers (CFOs) who are also expecting the labour market to remain sluggish this year, a poll by professional services Deloitte found.
Deloitte chief operating officer Keith Skinner says that while CFOs are more confident about taking on new risk, they are still concerned about the economy.
"Although business felt a boost with the end of minority government which increased confidence last quarter, CFOs are acutely aware that the fundamentals of the economy have not changed," he said in a statement.
"Even with further easing in the strength of the Aussie dollar and low interest rates, it remains a challenging environment."
CFOs see consumer discretionary spending falling as the Australian dollar keeps declining from its present level of 88 US cents.
The CFOs of 64 ASX-listed firms were surveyed over summer before official data was released showing almost 32,000 full-time jobs were lost in December.
However 44 per cent of those surveyed were prepared to put more risk on to their balance sheets, compared with less than a quarter in mid-2013.
Share
