100,000 small businesses were permanently closed in the first two months of the "pandemic"

American companies flourish because of "Corona" ... and lay off 100,000 employees

45 of the 50 companies listed on the US stock exchange have made profits.

Getty

Economic reports show that the largest American companies thrived during the outbreak of the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic, but laid off about 100 thousand of its employees.

The Washington Post quoted John Rennie, chief financial officer of PayPal, a company that specializes in electronic payments, as saying: "I don't think we were as enthusiastic or active about our expectations as we were during the pandemic."

John Donahue, the president of the American company, Nike, said, "These are times when the powerful can get stronger." Computer games, which became the world's most popular entertainment medium, increased sales.

Profit and loss

With a few exceptions, the big companies are going through a very different year.

During the period between April and September 2020, which is considered one of the most turbulent economic periods in recent history, 45 out of 50 companies listed on the American Stock Exchange made profits, according to the analysis of The Washington Post, which reported that despite the success of these companies, At least 27 of the 50 largest companies in the United States have laid off a large number of their employees, resulting in more than 100,000 people losing their jobs collectively.

Although the major companies promised to help in facing the crisis and its repercussions, up to 21 large companies achieved remarkable profits, ending the services of a number of their employees.

Restructuring

In addition, some companies that have terminated workers' services stated that this is not related to the pandemic, but rather is part of broader "restructuring" plans.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield said all of the "laid-off retailers" were offered another job at the company, but she declined to clarify whether the new jobs were at the level of wages for the jobs that were canceled.

Market giants

And in many industries, the giants are devouring the market share that small firms have ceded.

While the top 50 companies achieved revenue growth of 2% on average during the first nine months of 2020, the revenues of small companies decreased by 12% during the same period, at a time when economists estimated that at least 100,000 small companies closed permanently. In the first two months of the pandemic.

According to the "Washington Post", large companies have ended the services of a larger part of their workforce, and the rate of layoffs is 9% for large companies, compared to 7% for smaller companies, despite having more resources to survive the downturn.

Major companies

Berkshire Hathaway Holding Company achieved profits of $ 56 billion during the first six months of the pandemic, at a time when one of its subsidiary companies ended the services of more than 13,000 working employees.

The companies: Salesforce, Cisco, PayPal and Wal-Mart have also reduced the number of employees, despite their pledge not to do so.

While it sent employees notices to dismiss their services, it transferred billions of dollars of profits to shareholder accounts.

The profits of "Netflix", "Google", "Facebook", "Amazon" and "Microsoft" also boomed, in addition to record growth in major stores such as "Home Depo" and "Wal-Mart".

Even in the hardest hit sectors, such as restaurants, travel and hospitality, independent restaurants have been struggling to survive, but McDonald's has boosted its takeout operations, with new technologies that meet the demands of the car.

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news