Australia
New Zealand
United Kingdom
Canada
Singapore
Malaysia
Employment Index.
The monthly pulse of Australian small and medium businesses. Employment, wages, hours and AI hiring signals are drawn from 1.7 million employees on the Employment Hero platform, with sentiment, AI adoption and investment measures from our quarterly survey of business leaders conducted in partnership with GWI.
SMB health check
The three vital signs of Australian SMB health: employment, wages and hours worked. Tracked monthly.
Employment growth
A key indicator of SMB health is whether there is expansion or contraction. Tracks the average change in headcount across Australian businesses on the Employment Hero platform.
Each point is the average month-on-month change in headcount across Australian businesses on the Employment Hero platform. The 3M figure reflects the % change in the latest month vs. 3 months prior.
Wage growth
Tracking the value of labour in the marketplace.
Median hourly rate
Hourly rate is a median calculation across all employees on the Employment Hero platform, representing a total rate inclusive of base salary, bonuses and commissions.
Hours worked
An essential signal of business activity and labour demand, split by employment type. Full-time hours tend to be steady; part-time and casual hours are where the variance lives.
Both figures are the average per employee, per month.
AI pulse check
How AI is showing up across Australian SMBs, from monthly demand signals at the front door (what businesses are hiring for) through to quarterly survey readings on what they are doing with AI inside the business.
Lead indicator
AI in job postings
Share of all jobs posted on the Employment Hero platform that are AI-related (roles that are AI-specific or with AI in the job description). A leading indicator of where SMBs are building dedicated AI capability.
Of all new job postings
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Lead indicator
AI skills in job descriptions
Fastest growing AI skills listed in job descriptions and fastest growing industries where these skills are mentioned. Signals the transition of AI from a specialism to a baseline expectation across the broader workforce.
- ClaudeQoQup 274%
- GeminiQoQup 156%
- Prompt engineeringQoQup 150%
- HR, accounting & legalQoQup 260%
- Sales, marketing & mediaQoQup 175%
- Manufacturing, transport & logisticsQoQup 167%
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Quarterly read
AI adoption
Share of Australian SMBs actively using AI tools across at least one business function. Drawn from continuous survey with SMB leaders.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Quarterly read
AI investment
Percentage of SMBs increasing their investment into AI infrastructure, tooling and training this quarter. Drawn from continuous survey with SMB leaders.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Business pressure
The mood of the market: how much pressure SMBs are under, how they feel about the next 12 months and where they are putting their money and people.
Business pressure
Share of SMBs reporting high or critical operating pressure across cashflow, hiring, compliance, employee retention and productivity.
Current reading
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Business sentiment
How SMBs feel about the next 12 months overall.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Financial outlook
How SMBs expect their financial trajectory to go over the next 12 months.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Hiring intent
How SMBs are considering workforce planning over the next 12 months.
Based on the latest quarter (Apr-Jun)
Survey measures come from a continuous survey of 600 Australian SMB leaders per quarter, conducted with GWI. Quarterly readings show no change figure until a second reading exists.
