2degrees Shaping Business Study 2026: ‘No one’s waiting for green shoots any more’
After five years of waiting, an increasing number of New Zealand businesses appear to be giving up on a return to “normal”, according to a new survey reported by BusinessDesk.
The latest edition of the 2degrees Shaping Business study, released today, appears to show a drop in the number of NZ businesses expecting a recovery to pre-Covid levels of activity.
The survey was commissioned by 2degrees and conducted by Matter between March 10 and April 10. It surveyed 555 business decision-makers. Decision-makers were defined as people serving as owners, CEOs, directors, general managers and C-suite roles.
2degrees CEO Mark Callander said a clear theme he took out of the survey was that businesses were no longer waiting for a rebound.
“No one’s waiting for green shoots to emerge any more.
“We were kind of joking [earlier] about ‘thrive to 25’, you know that seems like two years ago,” he said.
“I think the state of change, challenge, uncertainty has just become the new norm and that came through quite clearly in the survey.
“That thought of a rebound has been replaced with cautiousness around the business.”
Among businesses feeling more optimistic than last year, 21% cited being back to normal or better after the Covid pandemic as a reason, down from 36% in 2025.