CenterState CEO survey: 55 percent of CNY firms reduce workforce amid coronavirus crisis

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A new CenterState CEO survey found that 55 percent of responding businesses reported a decrease in product demand during the coronavirus shutdown led them to implement layoffs, reduced operating hours, shifts, or workdays.

On the other side of the coin, 10 percent of firms are looking to hire employees to meet new demand during the crisis, and one out of five manufacturers reported an increase in demand requiring hiring.

Those findings are part of CenterState CEO’s Phase 1 COVID-19 Business Impact Survey of area businesses. The economic-development organization’s officials released details during a virtual media roundtable held Thursday morning.

The survey found 34 percent of businesses saying that supply chain impacts are “high or of the highest impact.” That number is up from 15 percent on March 23, CenterState CEO said.

The survey’s first phase was available between March 19 and April 8, generating 263 responses in that time.

CenterState CEO’s top executive pointed to the bright spot in the survey’s results, noting that some firms are hiring.

“It is important to note that while the vast majority of businesses in our region are feeling significant economic pain from this crisis, there is a cohort of companies … [including] Rapid Response Monitoring in the Inner Harbor that are hiring and are looking for people and for talent and I think one of the core elements of our response organizationally over the course of the last few weeks has been to try to matchmake between employees who are being displaced from other jobs and doing everything we can to help those employers who are still in hiring mode bring on as many of those displaced workers as possible, so that we minimize and mitigate the economic impact that these layoffs are having on our community,” Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, said during the presentation.

CenterState CEO says it called more than 1,500 members in the Upstate business community, “trying to understand the impacts and how they’re being influenced and impacted by the economic reality that we find ourselves in,” said Simpson.

In those conversations, Simpson said the organization heard “a lot of anxiety, a lot of concern, a lot of uncertainty, but also I think a very significant amount of care and concern for those business owners’ employees.”

The organization on April 9 launched the second phase of its COVID-19 Business Impact Survey. As of April 15, the survey’s second phase has generated more than 50 responses, CenterState CEO said.

Survey’s second phase

Initial findings from the Phase 2 COVID-19 Business Impact Survey indicate that revenue and customers are “ongoing challenges,” and many companies have had to reduce payroll, but some firms are seeking to add employees.

The survey also found 75 percent of respondents applied for the Paycheck Protection Program.

The findings also indicate that remote work access is a “growing concern.”

CenterState CEO will continue to track responses to the Phase 2 COVID-19 Business Impact Survey and provide resources updates on its COVID-19 Business Resources page, the organization said.