Workers during a shift at a textile company in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Businesses have taken measures to minimise theadverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, said a research committee on privatefirms under Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s Advisory Council forAdministrative Procedure Reform.
Accordingto a survey by the committee, most enterprises supported the Government’sapproach to fighting the pandemic. Many businesses have allowed workers to workfrom home and those that could not have used safety practices such askeeping workers at a 2-metre distance, providing hand sanitiser andrequiring masks to be worn in the workplace.
Othermethods included preventing departments and branches from coming into closecontact with one another and tighter sanitary inspections of dormitories.
Morethan half of the firms said they have used IT to allow work to continueuninterrupted compared with a mere 3 percent at the onset of the pandemic,especially in e-commerce, distance-learning and online consultancy services.They have also started seeking new markets and customers to reconfigureproducts and services to better meet consumers’ needs.
“Proactivemeasures have been taken to allow businesses to operate despite thedifficulties raised by the virus outbreak,” read the survey’s findings.
However, 8percent of private enterprises said they had no choice but to shutteroperations. Notably, only 3 percent of the enterprises asked said they haveinvested more in research and development and 2 percent said they havetaken steps to reduce risks, both being key long-term solutions, according tobusiness experts.
Asmany as 60 percent of firms said they have not been behind in paying workers,either in full or the minimum amount required by the State, with 26 percentproviding some form of financial assistance to workersduring State-mandated social distancing.
However,27 percent said they were forced to reduce either workers’ salary or hourswhile 10 percent admitted they can no longer afford to keep paying theiremployees.
Acommon request by businesses was for the Government to allow delayed paymentsto the social security fund, union fees and retirement plans for up to a yearto improve cash flows.
Businesses havealso voiced concerns over Government ministries and agencies’ lack of urgencyin rolling out support policies, cumbersome red tape and time-consumingprocedures. They have also demanded the Government quickly establish astrategy for a post-pandemic economy to soften the blow to business and to takeadvantage of new opportunities./.
VNA
