April 2021
RE
IA CHAMBER UC O L T.
ND AGRICUL TU YA TR
F
RCE IN MME DU S CO
The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture
COVID-19 IMPACT SURVEY (TAKE 3)
S
RREE
MBBE IACCHHAAM ERR UCCIA OO .LLU TT.
Background
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The Chamber has concluded its third Covid-19 Impact Survey
SS
(Take 3). The Survey was segmented into key areas to assess the impact of Covid-19 on; business operations, employment levels and related changes, as well as perspectives on sustainability. As always the Survey results are presented with minimal editorializing to allow the reader to interpret the information provided for themselves. This series of surveys, seeks to provide indicative information, not just for government policymakers, but also to business people keen on getting a sense of the emerging business and economic environment. Moreover, the information also provides the Chamber with some clear imperatives that have
Brian Louisy Executive Director, St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture
emerged and will help the Chamber effectively respond. This Covid 19 Impact Survey (Take 3) looks more closely at how firms sought to adapt in response to the economic impact of Covid 19. This makes interesting reading as we also take a look at this issue from the sectoral and size angle. This summary or snap shot is being made available to the general public while the more detailed break down and analysis will be available only to members of the Chamber of Commerce.
page 1
Sector & Size Distribution of Respondents
Agriculture
35% Membership Response Rate
Insurance Construction Banking & Finance Distribution Retail Manufacturing
52%
Tourism Other Services 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Increase in total Number of Respondents
50% Respondents who are Small Business
1-9 employees
34%
40% New
34%
10-19 employees
20-35 employees
8%
16%
36-49 employees
8% Over 50 employees
Respondents
67% Respondents who are members of the Chamber of Commerce
page 2
Trading Status
No. Operations have never stopped Yes temporarily stopped but will be back in operation by Feb 2021
60%
Yes temporarily stopped but currently running again Yes permanently stopped
Respondents from the
Other
construction sector
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
never stopped operations
50% Respondents from large firms never stopped
40% of respondents indicated that they have never stopped operations. Captured in the responses of Other, include changes in government stipulated protocols as well as the uncertainty in the Tourism Industry.
operations
Business Response to Economic Conditions Business Is Back To Normal Operations
Increased Online Presence
13% 55% 42% 11% 32%
Instituted Greater Use of Technology to Reduce Cost
19%
Instituted Technology to Productivity
26% 21%
Closed a Physical Location
Cut Back on Opertaing Expenditure Decreased Hours of Operations Diversified Goods and Services
50% Respondents from
11%
Other
manufacturing sector employed technology to
More than half of respondents (55%) indicated that they have cut
reduce cost
back on their operating expenditure as a result of this pandemic. The Other response include focusing on developing export markets, not currently in operations, government imposed restrictions and work from home or rotation approaches.
page 3
Impact on Operations
October - December 2020
out of
Revenues
Workforce
Sales
45 36 27
Respondents reported decline in revenue and sales
18 9 0
83% Small business reported declined revenue
80%
None
- 0% to -20%
respondents indicated that there was no change in the workforce whereas an equal percentage reported a decrease of less than 20% in their workforce. Anticipated Impact on Operations Revenues 45%
Sales
Workforce
41%
40% 32%
30%
29% 30%
27% 24%
25%
19% 20%
20%
15% 15% 10%
12%
11%
9% 4% 8% 6% 4% 4% 4%
5%
decline in sales in the first
Don’t Know
dents saw a decrease in revenue of between 20% to 50%. 35% of
35%
Respondents anticipate a
Increase
decrease in revenues of less than 20%. Whereas 28.8% of respon-
decline in revenue in the
76%
-50% to -100%
For the period October – December, 30.5% of respondents saw a
Respondents anticipate a first quarter of 2021
-20% to -50%
0% None
-0% to -20%
-20% to -50%
-50% to -100%
increase
don’t know
quarter of 2021
62% of respondents anticipate a decline in revenue of less than
50%
50% with 32% anticipating declines of less than 20% and 30% anticipated declines of between 20% and 50% for the period January to March 2021. 29% of respondents anticipate a
Respondents anticipate a
decrease in Sales of less than 20%, while another 20% anticipate
decline in workforce in the
decline in sales of between 50% to 100%. A high of 41% do not
first quarter of 2021
expect a change in their workforce numbers. page 4
Comparative Business Performance
45% 40% 34%
35% 29%
30%
29%
26% 25%
23% 21%
20% 15%
81%
10%
9% 8% 7%
8%
5% 0% None
-0% to -20%
Respondents reported
-20% to -50%
Sales
-50% to -100%
increase
Revenue
lower sales in 2020 as compared to 2019
In comparison to the same period (2019), 26% of respondents indicated that they experienced a decrease in Sales of less than
91% Respondents reported lower revenue in 2020 as compared to 2019
20%. 34% of respondents indicated they experienced a decrease in sales of between 20% to 50%. An additional 21% indicated they experienced a decrease in sales of between 50% and 100%. Only 7% reported an increase in sales. Concurrently, 29% experienced a decrease in revenue of between 0% to 20%, 29% experienced a decrease of between 20% to 50% and 23% experienced a decrease of between 50% to 100%.
Workforce October- December 2020 60%
54%
50% 40%
92% Respondents from Retail & Distribution sector
30% 17%
20% 10%
14%
7%
8%
0% 0%
1-20%
20-50%
50-75%
75-100%
employ 75%-100% of their workforce
54% of respondents indicated that they currently employ between 75% to 100% of their usual Workforce. page 5
Salary Levels
70% 60%
60%
50%
33.7%
40% 30%
Respondents from
20%
manufacturing sector
16%
12%
9%
10%
have employed salary
0%
reductions
4% 0%
1- 20%
20%- 50%
50%- 75%
75%- 100%
60% of respondents indicated that currently no Salary reductions are being employed in their firms.
Workforce Levels October - December 2020 None
1% to 20%
20% to 50%
50% to 75%
75% to 100%
100
94%
90 80 70
65%
64%
60 50
40%
40
50% Respondents from tourism sector expect more redundencies
30 20 10 0
11%11% 4% Laid off
9%
21% 15%
52% 43%
45%
26%
26% 15% 11%
12%12%
4% Working at their
Working from home
normal place of
or rotation
work
4%
0% 2%
6%
0%
4%
Absent due to COVID
Made permanently
19 symptons, self
redundant
3%
0% 0%
3%
Other
isolation or quarantine
65% of respondents indicated that between October and December no one was laid off. 40% of respondents indicated that between 75% and 100% of persons operate from their usual place of work. 45% of respondents indicated that between 1% and 20% are working from home or on rotation. While 43% of respondents indicated that some staff were absent from work due to COVID-19. 64% indicated that no one was made permanently redundant. page 6
Impact of Protocols
Cost to Businesses of Implementing Safety Protocols Above 20% Increase;
19%
20% Increase;
7%
95%
47%
10%
15% Increase 10% Increase
17%
5% Increase
Respondents reported that adhering to protocols have increased operating cost by at least 5%
19 % of Survey Respondents indicated that costs of operations have increased by more than 20% due to implementing and following health and safety protocols. 17% reported costs have increased by 10%, while 47% say costs have increased by 5%.
85% Respondents implememented physical distancing measures for employees.
Limiting Number Of Customers Entering Business
72%
Enforcing Wearing Of Masks By Customers
83%
Employing Physical Distancing of Staff
85%
Employing Physical Distancing of Customers
80%
Erected Barriers Between Customers And Staff
52%
Providing Hand Sani�zer To Staff
82%
Providing Hand Sani�zer To Customers Entering Premises
82%
Protocols used by Businesses
Capacity to Sustain Operations in Current Climate
31% Respondents don’t think they can continue operations for
Zero months
12%
1-3 months
7%
4-6 months
12%
7-9 months
14%
Over 9 months
56%
more than 6 months page 7
ND AGRICUL TU YA TR
IA CHAMBER UC O L T.
RE
F
RCE IN MME DU S CO
S