A survey conducted by technology cluster GCE NODE among its participating companies Tuesday this week, documents the impact of what is in fact a double crisis.
Even though a number of companies have already issues notices of layoffs, 40 per cent of respondents say more layoffs are likely in the month of April. Still, more than 80 per cent find it highly unlikely that employees will be terminated in the months of April and May. This could be interpreted as an anticipation of Covid-19 and falling oil prices being a temporary crisis.
The effects of the pandemic are ranked slightly less negative this week compared to a similar survey three weeks ago, whereas the effects of the fall in oil prices are ranked slightly more severe now than three weeks ago. However, the differences are very small.
46 per cent of respondents say the Corona virus affects business ‘somewhat negatively’ or ‘very negatively’, and an additional 45 per cent say the virus affects business ‘negatively’. When asked how the fall in oil prices affects the business, 57 per cent of respondents answer ‘somewhat negatively’ or ‘very negatively’.
83 per cent believe the needs of the business sector should influence how we handle the Covid-19 pandemic.
27 GCE NODE participants took part in the survey. 7 out of the 27 report more than NOK 250 million in annual revenue, which indicates that most of the major companies took part in the survey.
