Survey: a quarter of Czech companies have cut staff due to coronavirus

A quarter of Czech companies laid off some of their employees during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey, while other companies reduced the salaries and benefits of their employees.

The survey, conducted by consulting company Randstad, lays out the bleak findings about the Czech economy, predicting that up to 10 percent of the population could lose their job by the summer or fall.

When coronavirus measures first went into effect in March, the government asked companies not to lay off workers. However, Randstad’s report, which samples 650 companies, found that companies started to take measures in April and continued in May. The CEO of Randstad, Jacek Kowalak, told FAEI that the measures varied by company and sector.

Some businesses, like hotels and restaurants, had to stop operations and resume months later under strict regulations; meanwhile, sectors like IT and business were able to continue on as normal.

Many Czech citizens’ and residents’ jobs were affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, the survey found. Nearly 27 percent of the surveyed companies made their employees redundant, more than 22 percent laid off their employees, and another 20 percent of companies reduced their employees’ bonuses and benefits. Automotive and trade and service sectors accounted for the largest redundancies, according to Kowalak.

Instead of laying off their employees, some companies opted to reduce their employees’ hours or their workload in an effort to keep their employees on board.

“It can, therefore, be expected that the measures will continue in many companies. However, the question is what will happen after the end of government support. There will probably be another wave of redundancies,” Kowalak told FAEI.

Amid the bleak news, some hope:  a quarter of the surveyed companies did not introduce any measures at all as a result of Coronavirus. The biggest winners in this scenario included e-commerce, IT, and business services. These fields oftentimes did not have to reduce employees or lay anyone off; instead, many of these sectors gained new business and grew their businesses.