Corona survey in September: more companies expect to get into trouble

In September, FHI conducted a corona survey among its members for the fourth time. This survey measured the impact of the corona crisis on companies. The picture differs per sector, but overall all in all expects a significant number of entrepreneurs – approximately 45 percent – to still encounter problems due to the ongoing pandemic and the associated economic crisis.

This fear of increasing problems seems to stem from the second corona wave: compared to July, pessimism grew significantly in September. Falling turnover and fewer orders caused companies a lot of pain. Many companies are also still using the NOW schemes.

In the industry Building Automation sounds a more optimistic sound. For example, compared to previous months, a larger group of companies – around 45 percent – expect that they will not get into trouble due to the corona crisis. A decrease in turnover and order portfolio is seen as the biggest pain point.

Companies that have been affected by the corona crisis indicate, among other things, that they are further digitizing and also increasing marketing activities. Furthermore, the idea is mentioned of temporarily exchanging personnel among themselves, a possibility that, for example, the platform NLWorksBy offers.

Nearly half of the member companies are active in the sector Industrial automation – approximately 46 percent – say that they have run into problems due to the corona crisis. However, a third do not expect this to happen to their company. A rapidly growing difficulty is the decline in the liquidity position of many companies: more than 30 percent of the companies surveyed indicated this. Entrepreneurs also report shifts in turnover and increasing absenteeism due to illness.

Within the IA sector, several additional measures are being taken to deal with the corona crisis, despite the fact that the NOW schemes are still being used extensively. One of these measures is to increase marketing and sales efforts and implement savings that do not affect the workforce. Investments are also being postponed.

The picture from the corona research in the sector Industrial Electronics can be called fairly stable: a roughly equal number of companies – over 50 percent – indicate that they are still struggling due to the pandemic. Over a quarter do not think they will get into trouble. The biggest pain point is the decline in turnover: no less than 80 percent are struggling with this. Over 60 percent of respondents also say that there is a decline in the order portfolio. Other pain points that members mention are production problems due to the one-and-a-half-meter measures, rising transport costs and declining efficiency due to massive working from home.

Nearly 30 percent still use the NOW schemes, while nearly a third of companies have reduced the number of flexible workers. Entrepreneurs are also focusing more on existing customers and are investing less in recruiting new employees. Furthermore, investments are falling at some companies and in one case a merger partner is being sought.

The IE members call on politicians to adjust corona regulations, but also to develop a new vision for the future. FHI can also play a role in this in The Hague.

From the results of the industry Laboratory Technology shows that more companies are struggling due to corona: almost 55 percent are in trouble in September, compared to 42 percent in July. The turnover and order portfolio in particular have decreased by more than 80 to 70 percent respectively. The liquidity position is also deteriorating rapidly.

60 percent of respondents still rely on the NOW wage cost subsidies, but the reduction of flexible jobs has decreased. Other measures that LT entrepreneurs are taking are reducing costs, not replacing departed staff and requesting a deferral for sales tax. Furthermore, companies indicate that they want to reduce operating costs.

The industry Medical Technology shows a more optimistic picture: the group of entrepreneurs who think they will not get into trouble has grown to 35 percent in recent months. However, just over 40 percent are struggling. Once again, a decrease in the number of orders and a falling turnover are the sore points. The number of sick leave reports among staff is also higher and entrepreneurs complain about extremely long delivery times, less physical customer contact and postponement of maintenance and inspections.

Members of the MT branch focused in September on reducing the flexible workforce and reducing permanent staff. Employees were also moved within departments and more protective measures were taken for staff.