THE REAL DEAL
COVID-19 EFFECT ON THOSE
ACROSS THIS SECTOR
BY RANIA FAZZA PHOTOS BY IDIA EHAB MOKHTAR DESIGNS
T
he coronavirus effect on the real estate sector is still questionable especially with the ongoing work on urban projects, and the state’s desire to keep the balance between work and the safety of all employees. Thus Invest-Gate displays the impact of the pandemic on those working in real estate, mainly construction and architecture. Here is what is going on in some firms amid the outbreak and the worldwide precautionary measures.
The Coronavirus took its toll on workers within this sector. First off, architects are amongst those who suffer due to the current circumstance. Berry Ali, a 24-year-old architect, who specializes in designing commercial and residential buildings. As expected many real estate companies have put their projects on halt causing architects to completely stop. Ali says, “Architects are badly affected. Many projects are canceled due to clients pausing their developments.” Investing in real estate has stopped as Ali explains. “Only small personal projects are in motion; but when it comes to big investments, no one wants to invest in construction,” she explains. As is the case with start-ups in any field, start-up architectural firms are the ones suffering the most. For them, work is ongoing with projects they signed up for prior to the outbreak. But once the job is done, there
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is nothing further coming in, leading to cutting salaries or even laying off their people. “If such firms don’t have construction now to execute, some architectural firms will have to cut off salaries. As matters worse, they shut down the firm completely,” Ali states, without disclosing names of firms or where she works for confidentiality reasons. “In fact an early notice has been sent to us in April as they expect to shut down beginning of May,” she confirms. The silver-lining is to those working on massive infrastructural projects for longevity of such investments. “To me now I will focus on freelancing as it is the most income generating for the time-being,” Ali believes. At Redcon Company for Construction, Planning Team Leader Mohamed Abdel Gawad shares the same beliefs as Ali. Redcon has also decided to reduce its workforce to half its size. “The result was less productivity not to mention the mental stress the virus has caused
