NHK conducted a questionnaire in collaboration with the major life insurance company "Dai-ichi Life" to investigate how the spread of the new coronavirus is affecting small and medium-sized enterprises.
From the voices of about 18,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, it became clear that the decrease in sales extends not only to the hospitality industry but also to all industries, and if the impact continues, it is necessary to take measures such as reducing the number of employees. However, it was a difficult situation, with about 1 in 10 companies.
The questionnaire was conducted for about 50,000 small and medium-sized enterprises nationwide for about one month until the end of December, and valid responses were obtained from 18,224 companies, which is 36% of them.
The impact on sales
When asked about the impact on sales,
68% of the companies answered that they had "decreased"
compared to before the spread of the infection
.
▼ "No change" was 23%
▼ "Increased" was 9%.
The largest decrease in sales was
▼ "decrease by about 30%" at 29%
▼ "decrease by about 10%" was 22%.
On the other hand,
the number of companies that answered ▼ 50% or more accounted for 16% of the total, accounting for 1 in 6 companies.
Among them,
▼ 62% of companies in the accommodation industry decreased by 50% or more
▼ 48% in the food service industry, which is particularly high.
What to do if the impact continues
When asked in multiple answers what kind of measures would be required if the impact continued in the future,
▼ "Take employees off" was the most common 30%
▼ "Wage cut" was 23%
▼ "Non-regular employment" "Reduction of employees" is 11%
▼ "Reduction of regular employees" and "Closed business" are 8% each,
and a certain number of companies are considering strict measures such as reduction of employees and closing of business. understood.
The utilization status of support measures
On the other hand, when asked about the utilization status of support measures in multiple answers,
▼ Companies that answered that they used the "employment adjustment subsidy" that the government subsidizes part of the leave allowance
▽
Companies
that temporarily
took
employees off 52%,
▽ Only 75% of the companies that are still absent, and 1 in 4 companies did not use it.
In addition,
▼ "sustainable benefits" was 71%
▼ "Go To Campaign", a measure to stimulate tourism demand, was 61% in the accommodation industry and 39% in the food service industry.
The reason for not using the support measures
When asked why they did not use the support measures, 78% of the companies
answered
▼ "Because
they did not meet the criteria"
▼ "I did not understand the procedure well" (5%)
▼ "Procedure" Because it is complicated "(4%) was greatly exceeded.
Among the support measures, "sustainable benefits" are targeted at companies whose monthly sales have decreased by 50% or more compared to the previous year, but among the companies that responded to the questionnaire, "sales were the previous year" In some cases, we couldn't apply because it was a 40% decrease compared to the above, and we found that many companies were not eligible even if they wanted to utilize support measures.
Utilization status of support measures
▼ "Sustainable benefits" are for businesses whose monthly sales have decreased by 50% or more from the same month of the previous year, up to 2 million yen for small and medium-sized enterprises, and up to 100 for sole proprietors including freelancers. 10,000 yen will be paid.
According to the Small and Medium Business Administration, about 4.01 million cases have been paid about 5.2 trillion yen by the 4th of this month.
▼ "Employment adjustment subsidy" is a system in which the government subsidizes part of the leave allowance, etc., when the company maintains employment by taking leave of employees even if sales decrease.
In response to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, ▽ the maximum amount of subsidy per person per day will be increased from 8370 yen to 15,000 yen, and ▽ special measures will be taken to raise the subsidy rate such as leave allowance to 100% at the maximum. It is being carried out.
The special measures are until the end of February, but the government is considering measures including extension.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there were 2,248,310 applications from February last year when special measures were introduced in stages to the first day of this month, of which 2,179,457 were decided to be paid 2,532.3 billion yen. doing.
▼ Measures to stimulate tourism demand "Go To Travel" is a subsidy for up to 20,000 yen per night by issuing discounts on travel prices and coupons that can be used at tourist facilities, souvenir shops, restaurants and transportation facilities. You can receive it.
According to the Japan Tourism Agency, by the end of November last year, at least a total of 68.5 million users had been used, amounting to 406.3 billion yen.
However, in order to curb the spread of infection, operations have been suspended nationwide since the 28th of last month.
▼ "Go To Eat" has two businesses: a meal voucher with a premium of 25% of the purchase price, and points awarded by online reservation.
Of these, point awarding has ended because the budget amount reached 61.6 billion yen in November last year, and a total of 73.16 million people have booked restaurants by the 11th of last month.
Meal tickets were sold in all prefectures by the 1st of last month, but as of the 7th, new issuance has been suspended in 23 prefectures such as Tokyo and Osaka due to the spread of the infection.
"Go To Campaign"
Some companies say that one of the government's support measures, the "Go To Campaign," has hardly led to an increase in sales.
Headquartered in Higashiagatsuma Town, Gunma Prefecture, "Rose Queen Transportation" operates school buses, as well as personally arranged trips and bus tours.
However, due to the spread of the infection, sales from April to November last year decreased by about 40% compared to the same period of the previous year.
In particular, the travel industry, such as bus tours, was seriously affected by a decrease of about 90%, so I registered as a business operator from the beginning of "Go To Travel" in August last year, hoping that it would lead to a recovery in sales.
We made preparations by planning a new bus tour for travelers visiting Gunma prefecture, but so far there have been only 5 requests for new trips using "Go To Travel", and previously It means that the total number of trips that have been decided from the above is 29 even if the discount is applied.
Before the spread of the infection, we held 300 trips a year, but the situation is far from that.
Koike of "Rose Queen Transportation" * President Yasuyuki says that the reason why the number of passengers does not increase is that the elderly in the area are the main customers and do not accept travel applications on the Internet.
President Koike said, "I have the impression that a major travel agency that can make contracts through the Internet is the only one to win. For a company like ours that has many customers for the elderly in the area, Go To is timely considering the infection situation. I think it was early. "
In addition, President Koike said, "I think it would have been better if you could think of measures and operation methods that would reach the ends of travel agencies nationwide. Otherwise, small and medium-sized travel industries that have been hit hard by the new Corona. I can't survive my friends, including the small ones. "
* The "month" of "Yasushi" is "yen".
Professor Tomohiko Nakamura "Thorough support for business owners in their prime"
Professor Tomohiko Nakamura of the Faculty of Economics, Kobe International University, who specializes in SME theory, said, "A questionnaire shows that the new coronavirus has a great impact not only on the food service industry and accommodation industry, but also on the entire industry in the region associated with it. I have. "
On top of that, regarding the government's support measures, "Small and medium-sized enterprises originally had many reserve groups for business closure due to the aging of their managers, but not only that, but the fact that working managers cannot continue is because it has a great impact on economic recovery. We should focus on increasing support for this part in the future. "
On top of that, regarding the "Go To Campaign," it is a system that is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to use, as it requires reservations on the Internet and the store must once bear the cost of discounts subsidized by the government. I have repeatedly said that the country will think while running, but there are various problems that should be reviewed. "