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• Structure and Dynamics

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• Structure and Dynamics - 2003
• Structure and Dynamics - 2002
• Structure and Dynamics - 2001
• Structure and Dynamics - 2000
• Structure and Dynamics - 1999

The number of FTEs employed by SMEs increased

The number of FTEs employed by SMEs in total increased by 2.0 percent between 2001 and 2002, following a fall of 0.1 percent in the previous year. The proportion of total employees hired by SMEs has remained fairly constant over the last few years.

Figure 4: Number of FTEs by Size, as at February 2002

Table 2: Annual Percentage Change in FTEs by Enterprise Size (as at February 2002)

New small businesses create the greatest number of new jobs

Table 3 illustrates the contribution that SMEs made to job creation in the economy between 1997 and 2002. The largest single contributing group was that of new firms employing 0-5 FTEs, creating 180,370 new jobs. Of continuing businesses, more new jobs came from large (100+ FTEs) firms. While small businesses were also the cause of the greatest employment reduction, this was counter-balanced by the number of jobs they created, giving a net employment change for all small firms of 52,660 between 1997 and 2002.

Table 3: Employment Creation and Reduction by Enterprise Size February 1997 to February 2002

The average size of New Zealand firms increased, although remains below 5.5

After a reduction in the average number of employees per enterprise over the last few years, there was a turnaround in 2001. The average number fell from 5.86 workers per firm in 1997 to 5.51 workers in 1998. It continued to decrease to 5.46 in February 1999, and then dropped further to 5.11 in 2000. However, in February 2001, the number rose to 5.18 and then to 5.23 in 2002.

Figure 5: Average FTEs per Enterprise (as at February 2002)

SMEs utilise the greatest proportion of part-time employees

In 2002, the average utilisation of part-time staff across all firms was 29.6 percent. Figure 6 shows both 0-5 FTEs and 6-9 FTEs had approximately 33 percent utilisation of part-time staff, whereas all other FTE groupings are below 30 percent utilisation. Firms with 50-99 FTEs had the smallest utilisation of part-time employees, at just above 27 percent.

Over the decade to 2001, utilisation of part-time employees has increased across all size groups. This increase has been most apparent amongst larger firms, with 100+ FTE firms increasing utilisation from approximately 17 percent in 1989 to the current level of 27.9 percent.

Figure 6: Full/Part Time Employees by Enterprise Size, as at February 2002

The majority of New Zealanders in the labour force are paid employees

Figure 7 illustrates data from the 2003⁷ Household Labour Force Survey, showing that the largest proportion (80 percent) of the employed New Zealand labour force are paid employees, while 19 percent are self-employed or an employer.

Figure 7: Employed Labour Force by Type of Employment 2003

⁷Year ending March 2003.