Market conditions & performance of AWRS enterprises

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The AWRS has collected data on a range of subjective assessments about the market conditions in which an enterprise operates.

These measures can be complemented by a range of objective indicators of performance that can be derived from the financial information supplied by enterprises.

Nature of market: local or international

As demonstrated in Table 3.2, the majority (83%) of AWRS enterprises were operating in the domestic market only.

Table 3.2: Nature of market by employment size, per cent of enterprises
  5–19 employees (%) 20–199 employees (%) 200+ employees (%) All enterprises (%)
Domestic only 83.8 79.8 79.5 82.9
Domestic with some export outside of Australia 13.5 17.8 17.0 14.4
Export outside of Australia with some domestic 1.3 1.8 2.3 1.4
Export only 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.5
Unsure 1.0 0.2 1.0 0.8

Source: AWRS 2014, Structure and operations and Enterprise Characteristics (Recruitment screener) survey.

Base = 2759 enterprises.

Degree of competition

As presented in Table 3.3, almost three-quarters (72%) of AWRS enterprises reported facing strong or intense competition for its major product and/or service during the last financial year. Perceptions of high levels of competition were greatest among larger enterprises with most (84%) reporting strong or intense completion for its major product and/or service during the last financial year.

Few enterprises (7%) reported operating in a captive market with no effective competition.

The number of competitors for the enterprise’s major product and/or service varied, although a higher proportion of larger enterprises reported they were competing with 20 or more enterprises compared to the smaller and medium-sized enterprises (39% compared to 31% and 28% respectively).

Table 3.3: Competition measures by employment size, per cent of enterprises
  5–19 employees
(%)		 20–199 employees
(%)		 200+ employees
(%)		 All enterprises
(%)
Number of direct competitors
Non/captive market/no effective competition 6.8 5.6 7.6 6.6
Between 1 and 4 competitors 22.4 19.9 14.7 21.7
Between 5 and 9 competitors 23.8 23.2 20.0 23.6
Between 10 and 19 competitors 18.5 20.3 18.9 18.9
Between 20 and 49 competitors 12.5 13.0 20.8 12.8
50 or more competitors 15.9 18.1 18.1 16.4
Degree of competition
Intense competition 29.0 31.6 33.4 29.6
Strong competition 41.3 45.4 50.8 42.3
Moderate competition 22.9 18.2 9.6 21.6
Limited competition 6.9 4.9 6.3 6.5

Source: AWRS 2014, Structure and operations and Enterprise Characteristics (Recruitment screener) survey.

Base = 2653 enterprises for analysis of direct competitors. Enterprises that answered 'unsure' are excluded from the analysis.

Base = 2541 enterprises for analysis of the degree of competition. Enterprises that answered 'unsure', or had no direct competitors, are excluded from the analysis.

Demand for products & services

An enterprise’s need for labour (employees) can fluctuate throughout the year based on the demand for its goods and/or services.

Enterprises that experience variability in demand for goods and/or services often seek to vary the size of the workforce in line with these peaks and troughs. As demonstrated in Table 3.4, almost half (46%) of enterprises that participated in the AWRS reported that demand for goods and/or services was seasonal.

Predictability of demand for goods and services can be an indicator of whether enterprises are able to plan for any variability, including the need for labour to meet varying levels of demand for goods and/or services. Around 62% of enterprises reported that demand for goods and/or services was either somewhat or very predictable.

Table 3.4: Demand conditions by employment size, per cent of enterprises
  5–19 employees
(%)		 20–199 employees
(%)		 200+ employees
(%)		 All enterprises
(%)
Demand for goods/services: seasonality
Seasonal 46.5 46.7 36.0 46.3
Not seasonal 53.5 53.4 64.0 53.7
Predictability of demand for goods/services
Very predictable 10.7 10.9 16.2 10.9
Somewhat predictable 50.6 50.1 53.7 50.6
Somewhat unpredictable 29.6 30.1 21.9 29.5
Very unpredictable 9.2 8.9 8.2 9.1

Source: AWRS 2014, Structure and operations and Enterprise Characteristics (Recruitment screener) survey.

Base = 2743 enterprises for analysis of seasonal demand. Enterprises that answered 'unsure' are excluded from the analysis.

Base = 2742 enterprises for analysis of predictability of demand. Enterprises that answered 'unsure' are excluded from the analysis.

Updated time

Last updated

24 February 2016

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