Since the onset of the global pandemic almost 12 months ago, the world we all knew and felt reasonably comfortable and confident about has changed dramatically, and perhaps forever.

We all appreciate the difference the JobKeeper scheme has made to the business community, and more importantly its employees and their families, and the final act to withdraw the supplement program, while still just under 50 days away, will be a day many Australians dread.

Entire industry sectors have grown to rely upon the benefits paid by JobKeeper to keep staff on, but they have also had to walk a very, very delicate tightrope throughout the intervening period as challenge after challenge beset the nation's economy, and their own bottom line.

For its part, the federal government is determined that the wage assistance scheme will end in March, but we are in the dark about what comes next - as something surely must.

The original deadline for JobKeeper was established before we had return bouts of the coronavirus that sent states currying into lockdown once more, and those lockdowns can only prolong our economic recovery, but they're certainly a far better option than allowing a full-blown outbreak to take hold.

Our tourism, hospitality, travel and education sectors have been pulverised by the events of the past 12 months, and perhaps face a far longer and more difficult period of recovery than some other areas of industry.

Equally, some states have been hammered more by others.

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has raised the prospect of job losses and employment turbulence when wage subsidies cease, while business leaders have asked for some clarity from the government ahead of the March 28 deadline so as to try to plan for whatever is supposed to come next, and to garner some much needed confidence for the months ahead.