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Impending Recession : Amidst the genuine fears of rising infections rates and the speed at which the corona virus spreads, an added concern which has started raising some questions – Does this mean that business is heading towards a recession?

The service industries have already taken a hit, airlines have stopped flying. Quite often, there is news of airlines offering leaves without pay, some are grappling with the effect of shutting the physical business places and asking employees to work from home. At the back of the mind, there is a persistent question – does this mean we are heading towards recession?

The Fears of Recession

I don’t want to be sounding negative at a time of difficulty, there are enough challenges and grave concerns to deal with. Along with this, there is a flurry of news that pops up

• Footsie companies reporting losses
• Govt stepping in to aid companies with interest free loans
• Service industries closing, bars, pubs and restaurants face business losses
• Airline industries, tourist attractions not closing down further business temporarily
• Employment challenges with temporary staff and contract employees in the times of uncertainty.

The list seems to go on. If we look around the other countries across the globe, there is an impending fear of recession which seems to be at the background. I do appreciate that the challenges in front of us are bigger than recession, but it does have an impact which makes me ponder!

Cyclic Effect

It is amazing to see the strength of people coming together to help each other out. The hospital staff have my utmost respect and gratitude for their availability. Businesses centred around logistics, food supply, grocery markets are trying to respond to the increased demand with reduced availability of their staff and supply chain to get this working.

No one knows the length of time this pressure will remain on businesses. The tide will turn over and businesses will try to get back on feet as do many of us. It is uncertain and difficult times which can easily turn into a recession mode with expenditures getting limited which leads to a cyclic cause and effect of less demand, less supply which incidentally means less jobs as well.

I may sound very grim in the above few words, but that might just be the reality we are facing. I would be very pleased to be proved wrong – the impact of this virus is hard enough without the fears of the recession and added impact on the economy and in effect a hardship which none of us is prepared for.

What to do?

What is the overall message to businesses in such a situation? Do we continue as is and ensure that we try our best to keep recession at bay? The govt seems to be stepping in and aiding companies to help keep jobs of their employees. The hope is that this phase gets over soon and we can all be back on our feet with businesses working towards their full potential.

The global pandemic has been extremely hard on all countries, it is perhaps resilience which is now being asked for and sheer collaboration in thoughts of being empathetic towards each other. This includes people, jobs, expenses, helping each other out and so much more..