Australian business leaders are broadly optimistic about the state of the economy and more than half plan to hire and bolster workforces.

Nearly nine in 10 Australian chief executive officers surveyed were confident about the economy despite a sluggish few quarters of growth engineered by policymakers trying to tamp down inflation.

KPMG’s survey of more than 1300 CEOs from Australia and other leading economies follows the Business Council’s warning of intensifying anti-business sentiment.

The business lobby group representing Coles, Woolworths and other big corporates also sounded alarm bells on waning national prosperity.

KPMG Australia chief executive officer Andrew Yates said it was encouraging but surprising so many business leaders were feeling upbeat about the economy.

“It seems that most are looking beyond what may be a sluggish next few months to a brighter two or three years after that,” Mr Yates said.

Only four per cent of CEOs surveyed said they planned to cut jobs in the future, shrinking from a 2023 survey, with 54 per cent of Australian leaders intending to grow staff numbers.

“While the unemployment rate is tipped to rise over the next six months, our respondents are confident that staff levels in their companies will grow over the following two years or so,” Mr Yates said.

Business council heads took shots at “populist” political posturing at its annual dinner on Tuesday, with president Geoff Culbert arguing it had become “popular to bash big business”.

Mr Culbert singled out a push for divestiture powers as a type of policy “making success taboo in this country”.

The remarks have prompted the federal opposition to defend its proposal for last-resort supermarket break-up powers.

Finance spokesperson Jane Hume said the sector-specific divestiture powers would only be applied if anti-competitive behaviour was found.

“That’s not an anti-business policy … it’s a policy putting everyone on an even playing field,” Senator Hume told Sky News on Wednesday.

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The Greens have also been calling for powers to break up supermarkets found to be misusing their market power.

The sector has come under intense scrutiny as consumers have struggled to pay for groceries and farmer prices have been undermined while the big players report profits.

Divestiture policy was not the only target of criticism, with Labor government regulatory changes and workplace relations reforms also under fire.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who spoke at the same event, said job creation had been strong under the industrial relations reforms.

He said government wanted to work alongside the private sector to reinvigorate the economy.

“Economic reform is not confined to a vanished golden age, it remains our challenge to meet and our opportunity to seize,” Mr Albanese said in his speech.

“I am optimistic that government and business can do this together, by recognising each other’s strengths, respecting each other’s views and valuing each other’s contribution.”