Two in five SMEs expect recovery in 2-3 years: survey

Positive economic recovery will need at least 2-3 years, according to 40 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), shows the EFL Covid-19 barometer. As many as 45 percent of the companies surveyed do not expect a recovery next year. As few as 9 percent of entrepreneurs hope that the optimistic scenario will come true in 2020.

“The recovery is expected next year by the representatives of the construction industry (52 percent), trade (51 percent), transport (48 percent) and production (45 percent). The respondents with the less optimistic scenario predicting the bounce-back of the industry in 2022-2023 are mostly representatives of the hospitality (48 percent) and services (44 percent) sectors. The most optimistic – who are betting on return this year – are among transport representatives (18 percent), and 8 percent of representatives from trade, construction and production industries as well as 7 percent of services companies,” the press release published on May 25 states.

The overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs (77 percent) said that the situation would get worse, even as 15 percent thought they would remain unchanged. Once again, the study showed that the smaller the company, the more pessimistic it is regarding the impact of the pandemic on the condition of the industry. While six out of 10 SMEs are pessimistic about the next six months, among the smallest entities employing up to nine employees, as many as nine out of 10 expect conditions to deteriorate, the survey shows.

The study was conducted on April 20-30 on a representative group of 600 micro, small and medium-sized companies.

Poland-headquartered EFL states on its website that it is one of the first leasing companies in the country.