More than one in five, or 22%, of employing businesses had staff absent in January due to COVID-19, according to results released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ABS Head of Industry Statistics, John Shepherd, said: “Large businesses were three times as likely to report these absences (65 per cent) compared to small businesses (20%).”
“For businesses with staff absent, the most common reasons for this were self-isolation or quarantine requirements (82%) and staff having COVID-19 symptoms or illness (73%).”
The results showed that almost half – 47% – of all businesses experienced supply chain disruptions in January.
“In January 2022, more businesses were impacted by supply chain disruptions compared to April 2021, where 30 per cent of businesses experienced supply chain issues,” Mr Shepherd said.
Last month, half of businesses with supply chain disruptions responded by changing ordering processes (50%), the Bureau found. The second most common response to the disruptions was for the business to increase the price of their goods or services (42%).
The data was collected by the ABS between 27 January and 4 February.
