Portuguese companies fear recession. 40% see reduced business after the pandemic

  • ECO News
  • 2 April 2020

Portuguese organisations are concerned about a possible global recession, even more than the financial impact of the pandemic on business. Most see the outbreak ending at the end of this quarter.

A potential global recession is the major concern of Portuguese organizations, even more than the financial impact of the pandemic on business. This is one of the conclusions of a survey conducted by IDC between March 27th and 31st among 531 managers and directors of companies of various sizes.

Alongside these two concerns, respondents were concerned about the decline in consumer confidence and reduced consumption, but also about possible supply chain problems and financing difficulties.

With Covid-19 generating economic disruption in the world, the organizations surveyed by IDC said that the major impact is seen primarily in revenues, followed by profits and customers. But while a minority of 7.8% of organizations guarantee that activity will continue “normally,” the majority, or 40.1%, admit that operations will continue “at a reduced level”. Nearly 6% report a total shutdown.

Most IDC respondents estimate the ‘current pandemic outbreak’ will stop by the end of the second quarter of 2020, specifically 53.5% of organizations. But a “slice” of 33.5% is less optimistic, pointing to the conclusion of the outbreak by the end of the year.

At a time when almost half the country’s population is teleworking, many companies are willing to review their IT budget. 41.9% are considering doing it, focusing specially on laptops, collaborative applications, network equipment and cloud services.