The Polish market situation

While for months the pandemic seemed not to have unduly affected most companies, the CSO’s research conducted in February already shows decidedly weaker results and – what is worse – forecasts that are far from ideal. So is the coronavirus effectively plaguing the Polish economy?

Negative effects of a pandemic

In fact, it is hard to find an industry that is not affected at all by the pandemic. The worrying increase in the negative consequences of the lock downs, which have been dragging on behind many industries for several months, is being reported even by those sectors that not so long ago seemed to be operating as stably as possible. The information and communication sector seems to continue to thrive best, with only 7.8% of respondents seeing negative consequences, rating them as serious, and only 2.9% seeing them as a threat to company stability. The situation looks relatively good in manufacturing (serious effects: 22.8%, threatening stability: 5.6%) and wholesale trade (serious: 26.3%, threatening: 5.1%), and even so the figures given are not at all optimistic.

The worst results are invariably seen in the accommodation and catering sector, where as many as 39.8% of respondents rate the situation of their company as serious and a further 52.7% as threatening. If you add up these figures, it is easy to see that this sector is basically dying and it is difficult to choose other words here. The situation is also bad in transport and storage (serious: 27.3%, threatening: 14.3%) and retail (29.5% – serious, 10% – threatening).

More crisis, fewer orders

The condition of the companies in the individual market areas influences the volume of orders, which in all the industries surveyed recorded declines in sales. This takes into account semi-finished products as well as raw materials, goods and services themselves. The best situation is again in the information and communication sector, where orders fell by only 4.5%. Order reductions of less than 10% also apply to manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and finance and insurance. Construction (-12.9%) and transport and storage (-14.2%) remain in the middle of the pack. It will come as no surprise that the bitter leader in the sales reduction ranking remains accommodation and catering with a dramatic score of -44.9%.

Which industries will survive the pandemic

The surveyed entrepreneurs were also asked to estimate how long they are able to survive under the current pandemic restrictions. The finance and insurance industry has the best assessment of its situation, with 93.3% of companies estimating that they will survive for more than six months. The forecasts of the information and communications industry are also not surprising, where 75.1% of respondents also estimate their ability to survive for more than six months.

As one can easily guess, representatives of catering and accommodation do not forecast their future so optimistically and only 17.2% will manage to run their business for so long. It should be added here that only 43.6% of those surveyed will survive 2-3 months and another 26.3% will survive 2-6 months. Estimates therefore clearly point to the imminent demise of around ¾ of companies in this sector in less than the next six months.

Around 50% of the respondents among the other industries expect to remain in the market for more than 6 months. The rest expect to lose out from the crisis even before this time. The results are therefore not very optimistic.

Cutting costs in a crisis

One of the most popular solutions for times of crisis is sensible cost-cutting. Some savings in some sectors can also be achieved by employee outsourcing, Therefore, it is advisable to find out about cooperation opportunities and ask for an offer for your company in advance.