Tom O'Neil: CV.co.nz Managing Director on business confidence dropping to its lowest level since Covid

A blow for Kiwi business confidence, which has slumped to its lowest level since the post-2020 Covid lockdown lows. 

The Westpac-McDermott Miller index shows despite the weaker overall result, confidence has only fallen in four of 11 regions. 

That includes the biggest job market -- Auckland -- which dominated the national average. 

CV.co.nz Managing Director, Tom O'Neil told Andrew Dickens he reckons it's partially due to looming American tariffs. 

He believes there's been a massive hangover encapsulating all the difficulties New Zealand's faced since 2020. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So employment confidence is once again down across the country,
people struggle with job security and recruitment. The Westpact McDermott
Miller Employment Confidence Index has dropped to eighty eight point three.
This is the lowest level since September twenty twenty, a
level last scene post COVID in twenty twenty. Tom O'Neil
is an employment expert and a manager of CV dot

(00:20):
co dot Nz and is with me this morning? Is
he indeed with me here this morning? Oh? There he
is up there. I found you, Tommy. You were missing
on my computer screen. Good morning to you, jar your screen.
Why our employers still pessimistic?

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Ah, look, you know it's I think obviously we've got,
you know, the specter of tariffs from America, and I
just think it's it's the massively bad hangover of just
all the facts that have been sort of conspiring against
New Zealand over the last for the three for five years.
And it's interesting there's next messages out there. The SEEK

(01:05):
had an employment report that just came out recently, you know,
the job board, and they set after two years of
steady decline and job ed volumes the past eight months
has been brought to be flat now. I know that
doesn't sound like good news. That's just some degree that's
shine that actually, you know, I think I liked to

(01:26):
think we've actually now flat out. And you know, as
the year progresses and you know, as hopefully the tarastoe
tune into something that is going to be massively destructive
for our economy, we can move forward and actually even
have a bump floader in the year, hope.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So a lot of people are playing for jobs right now.
But you can smell the desperation, can't you.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Oh? Absolutely absolutely. And this is the thing being a
candidate out there, you know, you need to you need
to try and push that, you know, desperation. I sort
of describe it like being a duck. You see a
duck on a lake swimming along the top half of
the duck is all nice and calm and downstairs under
the water, but you don't think going crazy. And that's

(02:12):
what we need to do when we're candidates, when we
go in to the market. And it's a horrible thing
to say that the end of the day, employers smell desperation,
they really really do. And so it's important during that
whole interview time, anytime you tap in touch with employers.
You just put on that top half of the duck,

(02:32):
you know, you just put on that brave, confident face
and just really get out there.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
I call it. I call it put on your big
boy pants and just and just go in there with confidence.
Tom O'Neil from CV dot co dot in for more
fam Earlily Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to news
Talks it Be from five am weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio