DUBLIN, Calif., May 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TriNet, a leading
provider of comprehensive human resources, partnered with The
Harris Poll to conduct industry-wide pulse surveys to better
understand broad COVID-19 sentiment beyond its own small and
medium-size business (SMB) customers. The latest round of surveys,
released in a whitepaper today, reveal how SMB owners are adapting
to the current situation, dealing with the impact of the pandemic
on their business and preparing for business continuity for the
future.
According to the survey results 64% of SMB leaders expect their
businesses to emerge either stronger or the same as before the
pandemic, as most states across the U.S. gradually lift shelter in
place orders. Additionally, 88% of SMBs are either creating or
amending their business continuity plans after their experiences
with the pandemic, including prioritizing health and safety of
their employees.
The three surveys were conducted with leaders at over 500 SMBs
from April 28 – May 8. Detailed results of the surveys can be
found in the whitepaper issued by TriNet.
"Although this pandemic has been one of the most difficult
challenges many SMBs have faced, including direct impacts on
revenue, employee health and wellness, morale, and plans for the
future, we find in these results an underlying optimism and
agility, despite the unprecedented hardships. This is the kind of
optimism and agility that has come to define the SMB community and
will help our economy to move forward and recover," stated
John Gerzema, CEO at The Harris
Poll.
Lower SMB Revenue
The challenges brought on by the
COVID-19 pandemic have been particularly difficult for SMBs. The
survey found 83% are experiencing decreased revenues since
February, with almost one in four seeing their revenue decline by
more than 50%.
While revenues are down, optimism and confidence levels are
rising. As reported in the first wave of surveys, four out of five
companies made strategic investments in March and early April to
keep business operational. Their investments are paying off – as
businesses begin to turn on their lights and open their doors to
customers, 86% of SMB leaders say their business has handled the
challenges brought on by the pandemic well and almost two-thirds
(64%) expect their business to be stronger or the same as it was
before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lost revenue has been a major hardship for SMBs, but one-third
of respondents cite the uncertainty of the situation and the
unknown of when "normal" will return as their biggest challenge.
The most difficult areas of dealing with the pandemic for SMBs
include:
- Uncertainty – not knowing when "normal" will return (31%)
- Finances – lost sales, making payroll, paying expenses
(26%)
- Safety/health concerns – keeping employees and customers
healthy (19%)
- Employees – layoffs/furloughs, productivity, remote work
(18%)
- Operations – supply chain issues, delayed delivery,
stores/locations closed/reduced hours (7%)
Business Continuity
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed new
light on the need for business continuity plans for SMB leaders.
While most SMBs had a formalized continuity plan in place before
the COVID-19 crisis hit, only 18% of these plans accounted for
pandemics. Even though most companies weren't thinking about a
pandemic as they created their plans, about two-thirds with plans
believe what they had in place was effective in helping them
address the current situation.
Despite about half of companies not updating their plans in the
past 12 months, nearly all of the respondents (88%) are either now
creating plans or amending their existing plans after their
experiences with the pandemic. Over half (53%) of those who are
making these changes are prioritizing employee health and safety,
and the same amount will also revise their company's work-from-home
policies.
Other areas businesses have already made or plan to make changes
to continuity plans in the future include:
- Improve risk assessment (45%)
- Enhance employee communication plan (43%)
- Identify critical products/service that must be delivered in a
crisis (33%)
- Review/revise sick leave policies (28%)
- Review/revise healthcare coverage (26%)
- Implement a customer helpline (18%)
Government Support
While resiliency has remained
strong, confidence in government support is an area that has waxed
and waned throughout. Consensus among SMB leaders that the
government is doing enough to support their businesses during this
time was measured at 58% between April 3–6. Since early April,
these numbers became very volatile and dropped to a low of 38%
between April 28–May 1, before rising to where it most recently
stood on May 5–8 at 46%.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Workforce
SMBs have had to
adjust their workforce to address the changing needs of their
business during these unprecedented times. As of May 5-8, six in ten SMB leaders (60%) have had to
reduce their workforce in some way, including one or more of the
following:
- Reducing employee hours (47%)
- Furloughing employees (26%)
- Laying off employees (22%)
Furthermore, business models, along with products/service
offerings, were greatly affected by the current situation, with 57%
of SMB leaders (as of May 5–8) making one or more of the following
types of changes to their business:
- Shifted business model to be more online/virtual (40%)
- Changed product/service offering to address pandemic (20%)
- Changed product/service offering to keep revenue coming in
(18%)
More information on TriNet's continually updated
resources for SMBs around COVID-19 can be found on
TriNet's Business Resiliency and Preparedness Center.
For this research, TriNet teamed with The Harris Poll to conduct
an online survey of more than 500 business leaders in U.S.
companies with 5 to 249 employees between April 28–May 1, 2020 for
the eighth wave, April 30–May 3, 2020 for the ninth wave and May
5–8, 2020 for the tenth wave. Business leaders were qualified as
either owners/partners or C-level executives.
About TriNet
TriNet (NYSE: TNET) provides small and
medium-size businesses (SMBs) with full-service HR solutions
tailored by industry. To free SMBs from HR complexities, TriNet
offers access to human capital expertise, benefits, risk mitigation
and compliance, payroll and real-time technology. From Main Street
to Wall Street, TriNet empowers SMBs to focus on what matters
most—growing their business. TriNet, incredible starts here. For
more information, visit TriNet.com or follow us on Twitter.
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Media:
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Alex Bauer
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Fatima
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TriNet
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TriNet
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Investorrelations@TriNet.com
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PR@TriNet.com
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(510)
875-7201
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(510)
875-7265
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TriNet and the TriNet logo are registered trademarks
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trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their
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SOURCE TriNet Group, Inc.