RCI 2020B survey results are out | The impact of the COVID-19 crisis for Greek companies

What do Greek companies themselves believe for the COVID-19 crisis? How much has it affected their operations? When do they estimate to return to their “normal” way of operating? What about their opinions regarding distance working or governmental policies? And, after all these they’ve been through, what is their level of optimism?

Answers to these – and much more! – questions regarding Greek companies’ approach to COVID-19 crisis in the new 2020B RCI Report.

 
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Here are some key points from RCI 2020 survey results on COVID-19 influence to companies and organizations operating in Greece.

For the first time in the history of the RCI index, a significant drop of the index (as recorded in the measurement for the first semester of 2020) is immediately followed by a clear rise (as happens for the second semester of 2020). RCI Index had always the “tendency” to stabilize, after a significant rise or drop, at the new (high or low depending on the situation) levels. It is probable that this development mirrors the optimism of Greek executives participating in the survey, namely their estimation that the present COVID-19 related crisis will last for a relatively short period of time and that the economic activity —at least as far as the job market/ personnel recruitment and selection field is concerned — will be able, once this health emergency is finished, to bounce back!

Regarding future expectations, another unusual finding: a simultaneous rise in optimism and pessimism percentages! Taking into account the intensity of the phenomenon, we could probably conclude that opinions tend to “polarize” around the two extremes of the continuum between optimism and pessimism.

This tendency seems to caries on regarding the estimations about the influence of the crisis on the operation of Greek businesses. There is, compared to the previous measurement, a shift in the percentages from the neutral area of “Neither a lot, nor a little” to the two extremes “Not at all” – “A little” and “A lot” – “Dramatically” respectively. Also clear, for a second consecutive measurement, is the increase in the percentages for “A lot - Dramatically” responses, which cuts off a continuous downward course for this response starting from the historical high of 2012B and all the way until 2019.

Lastly, with respect to the special issue examining the COVID-19 crisis and it’s influence to Greek companies, the results support and confirm the previous measurement (for the first semester of 2020). Greek enterprises are still affected “A lot” (even more than the previous measurement) and the estimation is that they will return to a “pre-COVID19” state of operating later than previously expected (according to most of them, in more than a year from now).

However, they believe that – now – they are affected in a less negative way, while the rise in the “financial activity” (after the crises is over) is foreseen now to be greater than previously believed. Executives are still convinced that the quality of their companies’ human resources is their most important asset when dealing with the crisis. However, executives still hold “ambivalent” attitudes with respect to remote working: while skepticism seems to increase with respect to the productivity of remote working and its contribution to company’s operations, executives also appear willing to continue to implement programs of remote working in their business, even after the COVID emergency will be ended. Finally, it was recorded the skepticism of Greek companies regarding their eligibility to participate in governmental support actions.