The results are in from the Alabama COVID-19 Workforce Response Survey, which was developed by AlabamaWorks.
Nearly 1,800 business owners across the state participated in the survey, and the results provide an in-depth look at the pandemic’s impact on Alabama’s employers. Ultimately these results will also help determine how private industry and state government together can best support the economy and get Alabamians back to work.
A release detailed that survey respondents were primarily (68%) small business owners with less than 25 employees, with 41% of respondents employing mostly hourly workers.
In a statement, Alabama Workforce Council Chairman Tim McCartney said, “We are grateful to the business owners who took the time to help us identify critical needs and priorities for a full workforce recovery.”
“Utilizing the survey results, the Alabama Workforce Council will continue with our important work of assisting the state to the fullest extent possible with all workforce recovery efforts and continue to push career pathways and programs that are most resilient to create a more agile workforce,” he continued.
The industries with the highest participation rate were other services; healthcare and social assistance; retail trade; hospitality and food services; and manufacturing.
An overwhelming majority of respondents (82%) expect the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to have a negative financial impact on their business, and 33% of respondents have laid off employees as a result of the outbreak.
Nearly half of respondents, though, expect their business climate to improve over the next six months. Additionally, 53% of respondents indicated a hiring freeze during the pandemic. Respondents also expressed general concerns over the duration of the pandemic, availability of government assistance and retention of skilled workers, among other issues.
It should be noted that 53% of businesses indicated that during and after the pandemic more employer-delivered, skills-based training would benefit their company, making it the form of training in highest demand.
Additional survey results include:
- 53.4% of businesses reported that their current business climate is “bad”, but 49.6% of businesses expected their climate to improve in the next 6 months.
- 49.4% of businesses expect that their workforce size will remain relatively constant over the next 3 months.
- 35.9% of businesses reported that the biggest factor limiting business activity is a lack of market demand, making it the most common limiting factor.
- 46.3% of businesses felt at least somewhat equipped to handle the COVID-19 pandemic at its outbreak, indicating that most responding businesses felt inadequately prepared to some degree.
- More businesses (46%) are facing supply chain disruptions than not (39%).
A three-page report of the survey results can be found here.
In the coming weeks, AlabamaWorks and the Alabama Workforce Council will use the insightful data in discussions with various stakeholders surrounding the future of workforce in the Yellowhammer State.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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