Employers expect the recovery to take 19 months, with the exception of tourism and hospitality, it will take longer for a portion of the non-food trade and human transport sectors.
The number of those applying to the National Employment Service (already around 9,000) has begun to decline since aid measures were announced to businesses, and more and more employers are interested in incentives, looking to hire new workers, although data show that until just a few days ago 26 companies in Serbia have decided to lay off more than five percent of their employees. According to Zoran Djordjevic, Minister of Labor, recalling that in the new situation, catering is the most affected, but also all branches related to tourism and air transport.
This is supported by the latest research by Infostud on the impact of the coronavirus on the labor market, involving businessmen (580) and working age population (4,329). A total halt in employment occurred in the tourism and hospitality sectors as well as in business centers, where the largest number of layoffs occurred, while the pandemic had the least impact on the IT sector, transport and logistics, where human resources are still needed.
– The only increase in employment occurred in the pharmaceutical industry, namely the sale of consumer goods. Where companies really agreed when we asked them what government measures would help them, as many as 82 percent said that tax relief and wage assistance would be most important at the moment – says Milos Turinski, PR of Infostud. However, more than half of the companies surveyed said COVID 19 had a significant negative impact on their business (56 percent), about one third of them reported the impact of the virus as moderately negative, while only five percent of businesses rated the impact of the pandemic as positive.
– Employers expect a later recovery of their economic activities to take an average of 19 months. The longer-lasting sectors are tourism and hospitality, followed by non-food trade and the human transport sector. The industries that will have the least negative impact are IT, pharmacy, telecommunications and manufacturing, Infostud said.
Although the crisis has not waned, 70 percent of workers still do their jobs smoothly, while others say they have had to take vacation, paid sick leave or unpaid leave under the influence of their employer.
– Although it sounds like a small percentage (five percent), in fact only such a large percentage of respondents stated that the employer still did not introduce absolutely any additional measures to prevent the spread of the infection. Among the 12 percent of those surveyed who lost their jobs, the most common reason for this was that the company closed temporarily (46 percent), 37 percent said that there was a decrease in the volume of work, so the company terminated its work, 15 percent said that the company in which they shut down because of cost cutting, and three percent said the company was permanently closed, Turinski said.
Despite the fact that most respondents do their jobs smoothly, among many (40 percent) there are concerns about losing their jobs due to the crisis. In 26 percent of those surveyed, there has already been a wage cut, and 38 percent expect a pay cut only in the coming period.
Workers’ inspectors also complain about workers across Serbia, most notably that they were fired by asking them if it complies with the law, and that their employers did not provide them with protection of equipment and working conditions in the newly created circumstances, Politika reports.
