“We have reduced labor costs by fifty percent,” he said pandemic coronavirus head of the Kara branch network, Pietro Filipi, Etam Ladislav Pštros. “We had a hundred people at headquarters, now there are fifty, and in retail we have reduced labor costs by twenty percent,” he said.
About two hundred people have left the company in the last six months. According to him, the company will draw money from the Antivirus A program for the remaining employees from the branches. This is for those who had to close their operations completely. “There are some subsidies for wages, but it’s done in such a way that we have to pay the employees first, then the state only gives us the money, and that is absolutely complicated in terms of cash flow in this situation,” he says.
But there are also companies that are still waiting, or do not have to apply for support yet, because they have moved employees to online sales. For example, Alpine Pro is still trying to leave all employees in its outdoor clothing stores.
“If we’re talking about it being closed for two weeks, we probably won’t do anything, but if it’s supposed to be closed for two months, like spring, it’s going to have a catastrophic impact on us, because it’s going to be a Christmas sale, on which we are existentially dependent, “explains Václav Hrbek, co-owner and founder of Alpine Pro.
From the sales area to the warehouse and to support the e-shop
In the Ikea department store, all employees are still at work, only instead of in the sales area, they now work in a warehouse or for an e-shop. “We have 550 employees in the department store, which we try to use as much as possible to support online, which has a huge increase. We try to list all our employees, so that we are as prepared as possible for growth and customer needs, “said Jiří Kuča, director of the Ikea Zličín department store.
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And there are also companies that are now looking for new employees. That is why the government, experts and economists are currently deciding whether it is necessary to extend all support programs. The contribution to wages with the reduction of production – ie Antivirus B – is now drawn by companies for about one hundred thousand employees.
“Employment is artificial, so it is useless to maintain it and keep people in the hope that the place will be renovated again, that it will work as it has so far,” says Eva Zamrazilová, chairwoman of the National Budget Council.
Česká spořitelna analyst Michal Skořepa points out that every company that wants to use this support must spend part of its money. “That’s why it only makes sense for the company if it feels that the job has a future,” he said.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlíček (for YES), the extension of the Antivirus B program until the end of the year would cost the budget in the order of billions of crowns. So not so much as in the spring, when most companies limited operations.
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