The last thing resume writers want to see is banks and landlords having tough conversations with their clients or tenants. The result will be more people scrounging for work.

The federal government will extend the $70 billion JobKeeper scheme to March 30. But with new infection waves and significant revisions and restrictions announced in the scheme, small businesses still face an uncertain future as support measures begin to fall away.

Unlike the first tranche of JobKeeper, firms applying for the stimulus in September will be required to show an actual 30 or 50 per cent decline in revenue, rather than just projected revenue.

Treasury’s review of the JobKeeper scheme in June showed that 920,000 organisations had signed up for the subsidy, primarily in the travel, hospitality, arts and retail sectors, which have been the most affected by COVID-19, although the knock-on effects run throughout the national economy.

This includes major listed companies such as Myer, Flight Centre and Premier Investments, who have signed up thousands of workers to the scheme.

Many businesses who were struggling prior to the pandemic – called ‘Zombie’ businesses – are being prompted up by the JobKeeper bonuses. This is certainly true in Adelaide, where many small businesses were struggling before the virus hit.

Commercial landlords are now having have ‘hard conversations’ with their tenants, as the banks seek loan repayment monies.

Banks have deferred $56 billion in small business loans but soon they will start calling in those loans.

ANZ deputy chief executive Alexis George says that although the latest government version of JobKeeper may last until March, it is not in the interests of the bank or the borrower for a struggling business to delay making a decision about its future and keep racking up debt.