The boss of the peak body representing the franchise sector says while we may be living with COVID-19, businesses continue to face “massive challenges”.

CEO of the Franchise Council of Australia says labour shortages remain “across the board”.

“It’s hairdressers to hospitality, to home services,” she told Neil Mitchell.

“There’s a skills and labor shortage in just about every sector.

“There’s about a 42 per cent shortage in trades and technical areas.”

Ms Aldred said the effects of immigration suspensions and missing international students will continue to be felt for a while yet.

“It’s affecting small businesses’ capacity to fully reopen and operate, and get back on track and recover,” she said.

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