Business owners have also pledged their worries on having a massive decrease in their employee numbers. Because of COVID-19, many employees are having a hard time reporting to work. Problems like transportation, house location, and personal concerns affect their decisions on whether to still go to work or not.
The Labor Department says that around 16 million people have requested for unemployment benefits in April after the rise of COVID-19 cases. An increase in this request might have a high probability if the situation doesn’t get any better. It also means that if COVID-19 continues to attack millions of people, the chances that the increase in the unemployment rate will also take place.
It also coincides with the possibility of business closures because of COVID-19. If the pandemic cases continue to rise, there is a high chance that the decrease in the number of employees will continue, which will eventually result in business closures.
Main street America survey
A survey in Main Street America dated from March 25 to April 6, 2020, shows that if COVID-19 continues to attack people after three to five months or more, there is a high probability that business owners opted to close their businesses. Meanwhile, some say if this pandemic persists, their businesses will close probably after less than a month or two.
The figures shown in the survey assumes the high possibility of 3.5 million business closures if COVID-19 persists after two months and 7.5 million permanent business closures if the COVID-19 situation still doesn’t get better in five months.
Business closures depend on the industry they are in, such as theme parks and entertainment businesses. These types of companies in the industry require customers to go to their place and buy their products to gain profit. Because of the ongoing pandemic, these businesses had to close their stores for some time. On the other hand, several companies also had no statement in this pandemic because they are not significantly affected by it.
Convenient logistics are one of the main factors why a lot of businesses were able to continue their operations despite the pandemic. These businesses include food deliveries, online shopping, and others. However, most of them still consider the place of birth and still imposes a limit on orders.
Source: https://micky.com.au/reports-say-7-million-businesses-might-close/
