Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: coronavirus

  • Coronavirus pandemic reshapes employees’ perception of ideal workspace

    Coronavirus pandemic reshapes employees’ perception of ideal workspace

    According to Skanska’s survey among people in CEE, nowadays nearly half of office workers go to the office every day.

    The same percentage being valid for Romanian employees who have returned to their workplaces.

    18% of Romanian employees work in a hybrid model, with 3 or 4 days a week in the office, while 20% of Romanian employees work only from home.

    Top choice: hybrid model with office work dominating

    For 51% of the employees surveyed, the ideal working model involves at least 3-4 days a week working from the office. This trend is visible in all CEE countries.

    Specifically for the respondents from Romania, 27% would like to work in the  office at least 3-4 days a week, this being their ideal working model.

    Another 22% of them would like to work exclusively from the office and 19 % would prefer to work only from home.

    Offices need to offer more than before

    The most important aspects of remote working listed by CEE employees include the ease of organizing family life (51%), good working conditions at home (48%), and saving time on commuting to the office (45%).

    The study notes several differentiators in terms of what would motivate employees in the four countries to return to the office.

    For Romanian employees, the most important thing is for the workplace to reach high-quality standards, including sanitary ones and the possibility to relax and work outdoors.

    For Polish employees, a first motivating factor would be the possibility to use the restaurants or canteens at the employer’s expense.

    Employees in the Czech Republic and Hungary, on the other hand, want to work in a quiet place or individual, separate rooms for work.

    Hungarians would also appreciate free parking spaces.

    Dream office: comfort, safety, and good IT connection

    Among the first three indicators of an ideal office for Romanians are: very good quality IT equipment (39%) and green, open spaces for work and relaxation (33%).

    Other crucial aspects include a quiet space that allows concentration (32%), professional lighting that does not tire the eyes (27%), separate or individual workspaces (18%).

    Among the barriers that Romanians have regarding returning to the office are the impossibility of serving a warm and healthy meal at work (14%).

    17% do not want to spend their time in a confined space with air conditioning, and 26% fear of getting the virus once they return to the office.

    The study also confirms the great importance of safety issues. The results show that high sanitary standards can encourage working in the offices, while lack of them causes fear of contracting the virus.

    Daily disinfection of the office (41%), lower population density (37%), and non-contact solutions (37%) are the main factors that would positively affect employees’ sense of safety.

  • The Z generation and Millennials, most affected by the pandemic

    The Z generation and Millennials, most affected by the pandemic

    An staggering 36% of the respondents to a PwC global survey stated that they had experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression during the pandemic.

    The most affected were the Z generation (42%) and Millennials (43%), according to the report on Global Top Health Industry Issues 2021.

    Of the survey respondents, 44% said that they were interested in using virtual care solutions for resolving those issues.

    As a result, the global economy is losing about USD 1 billion a year as a result of declining productivity caused by depression and anxiety.

  • 73% of business leaders say business has been affected by the pandemic

    73% of business leaders say business has been affected by the pandemic

    Almost three quarters (73%) of the business leaders who responded to a survey said that their business had been affected by the health crisis.

    Bbut that the effect had not been quite as severe as they anticipated in March 2020. At that time, 99% of companies expected a negative impact, according to PwC.

    For 20% of global organisations, the crisis has had a positive impact, with their business being in a better place today than it was before the start of the pandemic.

    The effect of the health crisis has varied between countries and industries, but few will emerge unscathed from this period.

    The most affected sectors have been leisure, entertainment and higher education.

    The manufacturing and automotive industries, public and government services, financial services and the energy, utilities and resources sectors also reported negative effects.

    Technology and health companies have fared much better.

    Only 35% of the respondents reported having a crisis response plan that was ”very relevant”, thus indicating that the majority of organisations did not have specific plans in place for a pandemic situation.

    Thus, currently, 95% of business leaders report that their crisis management capabilities need to be improved, with 70% planning to increase their investment in building resilience.

    Over 80% of the business leaders across all sectors and territories agreed that their response to the crisis took into consideration the physical and emotional needs of their employees.

  • Half of global CEOs don’t expect to see a return to ”normal” until 2022

    Half of global CEOs don’t expect to see a return to ”normal” until 2022

    The 2021 KPMG CEO Outlook Pulse Survey finds that almost half (45 percent) of global executives do not expect to see a return to a ”normal” course of business until sometime in 2022.

    As opposed, nearly one-third (31 percent) anticipate this will happen later this year.

    The changes prompted by the pandemic have resulted in one-quarter (24 percent) of CEOs saying that their business model has been changed forever by the global pandemic.

    A majority (55 percent) of CEOs are concerned about employees’ access to a COVID-19 vaccine, which is influencing their outlook of when employees will return to the workplace.

    Interesting, 90 percent of CEOs are considering asking employees to report when they have been vaccinated.

    However, one-third (34 percent) of global executives are worried about misinformation on COVID-19 vaccine safety and the potential this may have on employees choosing not to have it administered.

    Government and vaccination rates driving decision-making

    Three-quarters (76 percent) of CEOs see government encouragement for businesses to return to ‘normal’ as the prompt for businesses to ask staff to return to the workplace.

    In addition, 61 percent of global executives said that they will also need to see a successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout in key markets before taking any action toward a return to offices.

    When employees can safely return to workplaces, one-fifth of companies (21 percent) are looking to institute additional precautionary measures.

    Global CEOs are less likely to downsize physical footprint compared to 6 months ago

    The research finds that only 17 percent of global executives are looking to downsize their office space as a result of the pandemic.

    In contrast, 69 percent of CEOs surveyed in August 2020 said they planned to reduce their office space over 3 years.

    Global executives remain apprehensive about a fully remote workforce

    CEOs are considering what the new reality will look like, but post-COVID, only three in 10 (30 percent) of global executives are considering a hybrid model of working for their staff.

    As a result, only one-fifth (21 percent) of businesses are looking to hire talent that works predominantly remotely, which is a significant shift from last year (73 percent in 2020).

  • The pressure on full time working women has significantly increased in 2020

    The pressure on full time working women has significantly increased in 2020

    About 82% say their daily routine has been disrupted by the pandemic, and 70% of them are concerned about the impact these changes could have on their ability to progress in their careers.

    Most participants also feel they always need to be available at work (53% of the women without caregiving responsibilities and 44% of those with such tasks).

    Women remain optimistic about their potential to progress

    However, despite the challenges created by the pandemic, women remain optimistic about their potential to progress over the next year.

    This could be by taking on more responsibilities as a result of promotions (52%) or by obtaining a pay raise (47%).

    On the other hand, 60% of respondents question the opportunity to move up in their organization when considering the effort it takes.

    In this context, 41% mentioned the risk of deteriorating their work/life balance, and 30% cited non-inclusive behaviors, such as micro-aggressions and exclusion from meetings or projects.

    Many women remain loyal to their current employers

    Many women remain loyal to their current employers, a third (32%) planning to stay with them for two to five years, and 30% for more than five years.

    Asked what would be the actions their employer could take to convince them to stay, 55% mentioned a promotion or a pay raise, 48%, more flexible working options, 45%, better benefits, 40%, additional learning opportunities and being engaged in interesting projects.

    There are also notable differences between women with caregiving responsibilities and those without.

    The latter prefer career related opportunities, learning and professional development (49%, vs 33% of those with caregiving responsibilities).

    Working mothers are more interested in better benefits such as medical or parental leave (49% vs. 33%).

  • Only 48% of consumers believe post-vaccine life will be better

    Only 48% of consumers believe post-vaccine life will be better

    One year into the pandemic, almost half of consumers (48%) believe post-vaccine life will be better than before the pandemic, EY Index finds.

    Even more, consumers are more worried than four months ago about their health, their families families and their futures.

    The share of people who think they will live in fear of the COVID-19 pandemic for at least another year has risen from 37% (October 2020) to 40% (February 2021).

    Respondents in India and Brazil have consistently been the most concerned overall (more than 90% of consumers) throughout the pandemic, while people across other countries are now more worried about their family’s health than they were four months ago (up 4% in the US and 5% in Japan).

    Respondents in China and Germany said they are increasingly worried about their finances (4% increase) and freedom to enjoy life (more than 10% increase), since October 2020.

    In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated changes that were already underway (36%): moving out of cities, shopping online more and prioritizing health, affordability and sustainability.

    Sentiment about the COVID-19 vaccine

    Most (91%) global respondents do intend to take the vaccine, but 25% said they have ”reservations” and 9% don’t intend to take it at all.

    The latter goes up to 15% in the US and 19% in France but down to 3% in China, 5% in Brazil and 6% in the UK.

    Top reasons influencing global sentiment include being worried about potential side-effects (29%) and not trusting its safety (19%).

    Feelings about the vaccine are also polarized between high- and low-income consumers, which correlates with institutional trust.

    Thus, only 43% of low-income respondents plan to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to them (compared to 54% of high-income respondents).

    This may relate to 37% of low-income respondents having little or no trust in government compared to 28% of high-income respondents.

    Despite concerns, a majority of respondents (56%) would be more likely to shop with retailers that require employees to take the vaccine, while 48% of respondents think that those who refuse to take the vaccine are acting selfishly.

  • 40% of working women are employed in sectors affected by the pandemic

    40% of working women are employed in sectors affected by the pandemic

    COVID-19 has increased labour market inequalities between women and men, with more women losing or giving up their jobs during the pandemic, according to the PwC Women in Work Index report.

    Progress for women in work could be back at 2017 levels by the end of 2021, with the index estimated to fall 2.1 points between 2019 and 2021.

    The Index will not begin to improve again until 2022, when it should recover by 0.8 points.

    Women were the most affected in 17 out of the 24 OECD countries that reported an overall increase in unemployment in 2020.

    Between 2019 and 2020, the annual OECD unemployment rate increased by 1.7 percentage points for women (from 5.7% in 2019 to 7.4% in 2020)

    Data collected for the PwC report show that globally, 40% of working women (nearly 510 million) are employed in sectors that the International Labour Organisation identifies as being hardest hit by COVID-19, compared to 37% of men working in these sectors.

    The sectors concerned include tourism, entertainment and recreation, trade and food services.

    In order to undo the damage to women in work caused by COVID-19 by 2030, progress towards gender equality needs to be twice as fast as its historical rate.

    Women in Work Index 2021

    As they do every year, PwC experts have prepared a list of OECD countries ranked by the progress of individual labour markets for women.

    The top places in the current edition are held by Iceland, Sweden and New Zealand, with Mexico, South Korea and Chile taking the last three places. 

    Among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Slovenia ranks highest (in 4th). Poland was ranked 11th, Hungary 18th and Estonia in 19th.

    The Czech Republic and Slovakia are only in the lowest third of the list, ranking 22nd and 26th respectively.

  • Czech government to impose mandatory Covid-19 antigen tests for employees

    Czech government to impose mandatory Covid-19 antigen tests for employees

    Czech government has ordered that all staff of all medium and large companies in the country to be tested for the new coronavirus. DPA reports.

    Thus, 2.1 million employees will have to be tested at least once in the next two weeks, after which test intervals of one week will apply.

    The decision does not apply to companies with 50 employees or less.

    Testing is mandatory for all employees and the cost of antigen tests will be paid from health insurance, but alternatively it will be possible to use self-tests, which will be subsidized.

    Companies face drastic fines if they do not comply with this measure.

  • Poland to raise the upper age limit for people being given the AstraZeneca vaccine

    Poland to raise the upper age limit for people being given the AstraZeneca vaccine

    Poland will raise the upper age limit for people being given the AstraZeneca vaccine to 69 and will take COVID-19 patients from Slovakia, Reuters reports.

    The upper age limit for the AstraZeneca vaccine had previously been 65.

    A number of European countries have set upper age limits for the AstraZeneca vaccine, mostly at 55 years old.

    3,163,856 vaccine doses were administered in Poland by February 26, at a daily rate of 86,694. This means an average 8.33 doses per 100 people.

  • New state of emergency in The Czech Republic

    New state of emergency in The Czech Republic

    The Czech government has called a new state of emergency. This time for another 30 days, until March 28.

    The lower house of Parliament refused to extend the current state of emergency but did pass a new pandemic law that allowed the government to impose new tougher restrictions.

    The state of emergency has been valid in Czechia since October 5 2020.

    Under the new state of emergency there will be new strict restrictions limiting people’s movement and tightening shop and school closures.

    Czechia has the highest per capita infection rate in the world over the past week.

  • Covid-19 pandemic caused losses of 1.98 billion euros to the Accor hotel group

    Covid-19 pandemic caused losses of 1.98 billion euros to the Accor hotel group

    The French hotel group Accor announced on Wednesday that last year it registered a net loss of almost two billion euros and its activity decreased by 60%, AFP reports.

    Accor, the owner of brands such as Ibis, Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Pullman, said that its turnover fell to 1.61 billion euros and lost 1.98 billion euros.

    Also, disposable room revenue (RevPAR), a benchmark in the hotel industry, fell by 62% last year, and even by 88.2% in the second quarter, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Despite the crisis, Accor opened 205 hotels in 2020 and has a portfolio of 5,139 hotels in 110 countries. 82% of these new hotels were open at the end of December.

  • Czech coffee chain CrossCafe closed all locations in Prague

    Czech coffee chain CrossCafe closed all locations in Prague

    Czech coffee chain CrossCafe announced that it closed all five locations in Prague, as a result of the Government measures related to the coronavirus pandemic.

    ”For almost a year these measures limited the normal functioning of the entire HORECA sector, including CrossCafe cafes”, says the company statement.

    CrossCafe say that the support of the Government of the Czech Republic is far from covering costs.

    CrossCafe Atrium, Kateřinská, Strossmayer Square, Anděl, Komunardu are the closed locations.

    Prague is currently most affected by the outflow of tourists, the absence of office workers, as well as students.