US business tracker: June 5th 2020
As time passes, the overall negative impact of COVID-19 on business outlook has begun to nudge down.
The pandemic is still having a clear effect on many US businesses, with many having to resort to cost-cutting measures such as salary cuts and reduced workdays.
The pandemic is still having a clear effect on many US businesses, with many having to resort to cost-cutting measures such as salary cuts and reduced workdays.
Approximately one fourth (26%) of businesses have had to make the difficult decision to lay off members of their staff, which has risen from 22% in our previous survey two weeks ago.
However, the general business outlook is becoming increasingly positive. The number of those who believe that COVID-19 will hurt their company’s performance has dropped since the last wave, from 39% then to 33% now. In a similar vein, the number of those who believe that the crisis will impact their sales negatively has dropped from 45% in the last wave to 37% this wave.
While almost half of US businesses reported a dip in their revenues, the number has fallen from more than half the wave prior. On top of that, the rate of negative impact has remained stable since April – showing that businesses remain calm and unwavering.
Businesses expect their employees to be working from home for around three months but agree that it could be longer than that for some. Almost seven in ten (69%) businesses are expecting a shift towards home working within their own companies once the pandemic is over, whether full-time or on a part-time basis.
Understanding the customers’ pulse is still a key target for most businesses (71%) who realize that business propositions must be adapted to reflect the situation and how it affects their consumers.
With so many believing they will be expected to work from home in the future, it’s not surprising that increased reliance on remote working is the most significant technological change expected by professionals once the crisis ends.
Savanta’s US weekly business tracker measures the business impact of COVID-19 among decision makers within organizations of all sizes and industries. It tracks the perceptions on the economy overall as well as organization specific impacts including sales, employee outlook, productivity and performance.
Get in touch to ask your own questions or find out more.
