Almost all the artisans came back to work, the construction industry started full capacity, hairdressers and caterers started to work, and many factories and companies started.
Across Europe, the situation is similar, thus freezing the economies of many countries. Factories are being started, and with the loosening of the measures, people in Italy’s most affluent are returning to work.
Already 42,000 employees, out of 130,000 who were on forced vacations in the midst of the crisis, have returned to work, and much more is expected in the coming period when urban transport works, said Bojan Stanic of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
– Entrepreneurs employ about 350,000 workers, between 50 and 60 percent of these companies are open, and we expect to be in full capacity by mid-May – he said.
Craftsmen, car mechanics, vulcanizers, shoemakers, tailors, dry cleaning shops, bookstores, and green markets first started working. Then, hairdressing salons, beauty salons and gyms were opened, but under certain conditions in accordance with the prescribed protection measures.
Many companies that have sent workers on vacation or to work from home will return employees to their workplaces in phases, and many will introduce shift work to protect people’s health.
According to announcements by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, large factories are starting to operate these days and should start production by May 11th.
Factories in the Czech Republic and Germany are starting to operate, and they need parts and we should not lag behind – said Vucic.
Pirot-based Tigar Tyers launches production that stopped on March 23rd. About 5,000 workers went to work. After a three-week break, production began in the Valjevo factory Gorenje two weeks ago.
In many factories, production has not been discontinued, only reduced, as sales have decreased. However, the expectations of businessmen are that during May and June sales will increase, which will set production to an earlier level.
Zoran Drakulic, a local businessman and president of the Serbian business club “Privrednik”, assumes that “what was to be sold in April will be transferred to May and June.”
With the loosening of measures in Italy, after a two-month blockade, 4.4 million Italians have returned to work. Construction sites and factories have been revived across the country to restart economic activity in Europe.
Italian restaurants and bars are ready to serve customers but only with food and drink. Sitting in bars and restaurants, as well as opening commercial shops and hairdressing salons is delayed for several more weeks and depends on the application of social distance and hygiene measures.
In the Czech Republic, at the end of April, for example, the production of cars and parts was restored at Skoda’s plants after 39 days of closure.
Ministers in the UK are in the process of preparing conditions for people to return to work, and documents that have emerged from the public show how much will change in the workplace, Srbija Danas reports.
