Not all doom and gloom among small firms

It's not all doom and gloom among businesses.

A backdrop of soft consumer confidence and political uncertainty is not deterring a number of small firms from planning to take on new workers or giving pay increases.

Those are the key findings of a semi-annual survey of 1000 small to medium-sized enterprises conducted by business software provider MYOB.

It found 12 per cent of SMEs are looking to expand their full-time staff base and a further 17 per cent intend to hire more part-time or casual employees in the coming year.

Despite the flow-on impact of cuts to the public service in last May's budget, nearly half of SMEs in the ACT are most likely to take on more full-time staff.

Nearly a quarter of business owners across the country also expect to increase staff wages in the next 12 months.

MYOB boss Tim Reed said the results demonstrate the resilience of the nation's SMEs.

"Their optimism to work through uncertainty and plans for future growth is encouraging and reflects the spirit and determination of small and medium businesses in Australia," he said.