The epidemic may end soon, but the crisis is beginning • Israeli society depends on the business sector and its ability to recover more than ever • The responsibility of the powerful companies in the economy to pull the locomotive back to the top will only sharpen • Opinion
Just before the start of 2021, when most companies in the economy complete annual work plans under exceptional uncertainty, it seems that Israeli society is dependent on the business sector and its ability to recover from the crisis more than ever.
The epidemic may end soon, but the economic crisis it has created is still in its infancy.
Companies in many sectors are still refraining from new projects and expanding spending until the situation is clarified.
Consumers keep savings for a rainy day and reduce expenses, workers are preoccupied with their professional future, consumers have become accustomed to purchasing products they have physically purchased online, and everyone is re-examining their habits.
This crisis has flooded the need to look for a familiar family anchor to hold on to, but the business sector has responded dynamically - hundreds of well-known companies and brands have adapted to the changing reality.
Expectation to give a shoulder
Business entities have led diverse moves of social solidarity: assisting small business owners, distributing computers to low-income families, deferring and waiving payments, and leading food distribution campaigns.
High-tech and technology companies stood out in their mobilization, which were less affected by the effects of the corona, and some of them even experienced significant growth.
The combination of the unique social nature of quarantine life, the dominance of the acceleration of digital commerce processes and the economic impact of the crisis on workers has led to a clear and justified expectation from high-tech companies to give a shoulder.
This involvement can be treated with cynicism or indifference, and there is no doubt that these are moves that also help retain or increase customer audiences.
But the corona crisis has created a deep breaking point - any manager’s recognition that growth in such a chaotic year is not self-evident.
The year of our relationship to where
Another effect of this recognition was the inward-looking, inward-looking conduct of the companies.
In the case of Outbrain - it was clear to us that part of our commitment as a growing business in the days of Corona is a declaration of stability and loyalty to our immediate circles - employees and their families, suppliers and business partners.
In other times of uncertainty, many companies are streamlining and downsizing to prepare for a possible rainy day.
We, and many other colleagues in the industry, have chosen to go the other way - avoid layoffs at all costs, avoid terminating contracts or changing terms with business partners, and even retrain employees in temporarily redundant positions, such as recruitment managers and office managers.
Even if the corona disappears from our lives in a few months, the change in the relationship between the business sector and Israeli society is profound, it permeates all aspects of the companies' activities, and it is not expected to disappear in the coming years.
We are only at the beginning of a long rehabilitation phase of collecting the fragments of the Israeli economy, during which the strength of Israeli society will be the strength of its weakest links.
The responsibility of the powerful companies and firms in the economy to pull the locomotive back to the top will only sharpen.
The recent period has shown us all how fragile a routine is and also that with all due respect to plans, sometimes the world has other plans for us.
The author is the director of Outbrain's operations in the Middle East, Africa and Russia.