50% of German Companies Expect Weaker Outlook for The Economy

A survey showed that about two-thirds of medium-sized companies in Germany have become, after the Corona crisis, determined to enhance their use of digital means such as videoconferencing, at a time when they are facing a difficult future for their performance.

The results indicated that more than half of these companies are intent on allowing partial work from home even after the crisis as well, according to a survey commissioned by the Federal Association of Medium Enterprises in Germany.

The results also showed that companies are preparing for a difficult future. About half of these companies evaluated the future prospects for the overall economic situation as very weak or weak, and 38% of these companies evaluated these future prospects as medium.

About 10% of these companies saw that their continued existence is closer to being unlikely or seriously threatened, and the results also showed that about 50% of these companies believe that the performance of the ruling coalition in Germany during the Corona crisis ranged between good and excellent.

About 30% of companies said that “government performance during the crisis is acceptable,” while about 25% said that “these performance ranges from bad to very bad.”

About 58% of the companies called on the government to reduce corporate taxes, while 60% of these companies called for canceling the solidarity tax retroactively and completely. The results of the survey showed that companies continue to be affected by bureaucracy.

Often stated that 75% of medium-sized companies do not plan to introduce changes to the number of their jobs, noting that 70% of these companies are intent on providing training in the same amount that they were providing before the crisis, and more than 90% of these companies indicated their attachment to Germany as their headquarters.

According to the association, the survey, which was conducted between September 2 and 11 this year, included more than 1,800 companies.

On the other hand, the German car company Opel’s threats to lay off two workers were met with criticism from Germany’s metalworker’s union “IG Metal” and the company’s staff council.

It is noteworthy that the German “Robert Koch” institute announced yesterday that health offices in Germany recorded 2,194 new cases of the new Corona virus within one day, thus Germany recorded the highest cases of corona infection within one day since last April.

The peak of the infection numbers in Germany was at the end of March and early April, when more than six thousand cases were recorded per day, and the numbers decreased dramatically in May, then began to increase again since the end of July.