Considering the challenges they foresee for the next few months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, more than 70 per cent of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as 40 per cent of corporate companies plan to reduce their workforce with an aim to bring their businesses back on track, the All India Manufacturers Organisation (AIMO) revealed the results of its latest survey.
The survey also highlighted that only 20 per cent of the total 46,425 respondents including MSME owners, self-employed individuals, corporate employers and employees will not cut jobs.
Going by the aforementioned figures, one can presume that once the businesses begin to get operational, the rate of unemployment in the country is likely to increase.
Less or no recruitment is also likely to become a common scenario.
“The extent of the job loss will be more clearer by the end of August 2020, as most of the respondents were in process of gauging how many of their labour will return and also they are currently gauging the optimum employee strength required to sustain their business in the near future,” said the AIMO’s former President K E Raghunathan.
The survey results also underlined the biggest worry of self-employed business individuals. 36 per cent of them shared they were concerned whether they would be able to pay their EMIs, especially as their previous payments still stood pending.
Keeping in mind the frozen recruitments in the near future, the job market has evidently taken a nosedive. This is certainly not good news for the self-employed people.
The Government’s reopening plan Unlock 1.0 came into being this Monday, and so, more businesses are likely to get back into action soon.
The AIMO survey was conducted online between 24 and 30 May.
