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Sign in front of a restaurant in Reutlingen: Corona worries fewer medium-sized companies than the bureaucracy
Photo: Eibner / picture alliance / dpa
From the point of view of many medium-sized companies, government aid in the corona crisis is often associated with too much bureaucracy.
This is what the BVR banking association and DZ Bank confirm after their most recent survey of 1,500 small and medium-sized companies.
In their analysis, the authors write in their analysis that the funds »should actually be granted to companies as unbureaucratically as possible."
"However, our survey signals that this should not always have been the case: In the midst of the corona crisis, the bureaucracy in Germany is causing the greatest worries for medium-sized companies, not the effects and after-effects of the crisis itself." directly affected companies "dependent on state support measures to survive despite all the reserves."
In fact, 68 percent of the companies surveyed in the autumn named bureaucracy as the biggest problem area.
In the case of smaller medium-sized companies with a maximum of 20 employees, almost 89 percent complain about excessive administrative costs.
With 67 percent, the second most common name for companies is the shortage of skilled workers, while 65 percent of companies are concerned about the effects of the corona crisis.
The companies do not expect their business to improve quickly.
“SMEs are currently doing noticeably better than they were in the spring of this year.
However, there can be no talk of a return to normal, ”the analysis says.
This is all the more true because the data collection was already completed before the decisions to shut down the economy again from November.
After all, almost two thirds of the companies assessed their business situation as “good” or “very good” in the autumn.
However, more than a third of the respondents stated that their current situation was "rather bad" or "bad".
The mood is particularly gloomy in the metal, automotive and mechanical engineering sectors, where a good eighth medium-sized company sees the situation as "bad".
Despite the stress of the corona crisis, according to the survey, medium-sized companies try to keep their employees as much as possible, if necessary by means of short-time work.
"A significant increase in employment, however, is an issue for fewer and fewer companies," says the study.
A good 17 percent of the companies surveyed were still planning to increase their workforce.
In contrast, there are now more than 15 percent who expect job cuts.
This is the highest value since the financial crisis in 2009.
Many companies are also reluctant to invest.
In the autumn survey, less than 69 percent indicated that they would like to invest in their company in the next six months.
This is the sixth time in a row that this value has decreased.
The last time people were willing to invest was even lower in the financial crisis more than ten years ago.
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