More than a quarter of Yukon businesses laid off staff during
COVID-19
© John Fulton/CBC Many Yukon businesses have scaled back operations during COVID-19 and have concerns about their ability to navigate the next few months without layoffs, closures or bankruptcy.
More than a quarter of Yukon businesses have laid off at least one employee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In some cases, cuts have been deep.
A new survey reveals that among Yukon companies that reported layoffs, well over half (58.1 per cent) have reduced their workforce by at least 50 per cent.
Sectors hit the hardest include manufacturing, food service, arts, entertainment and retail.
The information comes from Statistics Canada's Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. A summary of Yukon's information was published this week by the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.
"It's a pretty good snapshot of the business community right now, it will be good for policy makers to identify which sectors are being hit," said Gary Brown, Chief Information Officer for the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.
More than a quarter of Yukon businesses have laid off at least one employee during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In some cases, cuts have been deep.
A new survey reveals that among Yukon companies that reported layoffs, well over half (58.1 per cent) have reduced their workforce by at least 50 per cent.
Sectors hit the hardest include manufacturing, food service, arts, entertainment and retail.
The information comes from Statistics Canada's Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. A summary of Yukon's information was published this week by the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.
"It's a pretty good snapshot of the business community right now, it will be good for policy makers to identify which sectors are being hit," said Gary Brown, Chief Information Officer for the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.
Yukon still faring better than national average
Across Canada, 37 per cent of businesses report having laid off at least one staff member due to COVID-19.
"We seem to be somewhat less affected overall but obviously some businesses are hammered hard here," Brown said.
In October, Yukon still had the lowest rate of unemployment in the country.
There are also some signs of a rebound effect, as about 40 per cent of businesses who had laid off staff have rehired at least one person.
Private sector employment accounts for the livelihood of more than 7,000 people in the territory.
The new survey does not look at government and NGOs.
It also does not give a total number for people laid off, but rather frames the question through percentages of businesses who have laid off workers.
© Wayne Vallevand/CBC
'We seem to be somewhat less affected overall [than in the rest of Canada] but obviously some businesses are hammered hard here,
Revenues are down
When it comes to revenues, sales and transactions are down.
More than one quarter (27.4 per cent) of Yukon businesses reported that their revenues from August 2020 were down by at least a third compared to the year prior.
About one in six (15.9 per cent) businesses reported that their revenues were down by 50 per cent or more.
Changes since August
The survey is accurate to August but conditions in Yukon have changed since then.
Yukon entered Phase 3 of reopening on Aug. 2 and recently saw the BC, NWT and Nunavut travel bubbles close.
When asked to look ahead to September, October and November, many Yukon businesses expressed concerns.
One-third of Yukon businesses "did not know how long they could continue to operate at their current level of revenue" before considering further layoffs or even closure or bankruptcy, says the summary document from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.
One in 12 businesses reported they could continue for "less than six months at current levels of revenue."
When it comes to revenues, sales and transactions are down.
More than one quarter (27.4 per cent) of Yukon businesses reported that their revenues from August 2020 were down by at least a third compared to the year prior.
About one in six (15.9 per cent) businesses reported that their revenues were down by 50 per cent or more.
Changes since August
The survey is accurate to August but conditions in Yukon have changed since then.
Yukon entered Phase 3 of reopening on Aug. 2 and recently saw the BC, NWT and Nunavut travel bubbles close.
When asked to look ahead to September, October and November, many Yukon businesses expressed concerns.
One-third of Yukon businesses "did not know how long they could continue to operate at their current level of revenue" before considering further layoffs or even closure or bankruptcy, says the summary document from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.
One in 12 businesses reported they could continue for "less than six months at current levels of revenue."
More layoffs possible
The survey anticipates more layoffs ahead, though not for most businesses.
Brown said about 70 per cent of Yukon employers expected the number of employees to remain the same over the next three months.
About 13 per cent expected their number of employees to decrease during this time and about eight per cent expected to increase their workforce.
No comments:
Post a Comment