Eastern Switzerland's creative scene hit hard by Corona crisis
The results of a member survey conducted by the Werbeclub-Ostschweiz on Corona clearly show that the crisis is also hitting the creative industry in Eastern Switzerland hard. Declines or losses in turnover, short-time work and expected liquidity bottlenecks have become a harsh reality, with almost a quarter of those surveyed no longer receiving any orders at all. Nevertheless, there have hardly been any redundancies so far.
Almost 90 percent of the 150 or so corporate and individual members of the Advertising Club of Eastern Switzerland took part in the survey. A good 47% of the members surveyed - which include communications agencies, web agencies, service providers such as printers, but also event organizers - stated that their company has been strongly or very strongly affected by the coronavirus crisis.
Most companies are feeling the effects of the current situation: 47.6% are receiving fewer orders, and almost a quarter are receiving virtually no orders at all. Nevertheless, a good one in ten companies seems to be acquiring more or even many more orders.
"Better" short-time work than bridging loans
The majority of respondents (58.3%) expect little to no loss of turnover. Nevertheless, a fifth of all respondents anticipate a loss in sales of 50 percent or more in 2020.
Just under half of all respondents make use of the most well-known "countermeasure", short-time working. However, just under three quarters have not applied for a bridging loan for this. "Only" one in five companies had to go this far.
Fortunately, redundancies have so far been the exception: over 95 percent stated that they had not made any employees redundant.
Federal measures appropriate, exit strategy sensible
63.1% of respondents believe that the measures taken by the federal government to contain Covid-19 are appropriate and sufficient. A quarter, on the other hand, believe they go too far.
The Confederation received even more support for its gradual "re-entry" approach: over 70% consider the exit strategy to be sensible, as it provides room for maneuver. However, a good 16% complain that it is an unfair solution, as equal rights do not apply to everyone.
Cautiously optimistic forecasts
A good 20 percent of respondents expect difficulties in terms of liquidity in the current year. Slightly more than half consider this to be rather or very unlikely - although this assessment will certainly depend on how the crisis develops: This is because continuing falls in demand, prolonged restrictions imposed by the authorities and defaults by customers will inevitably lead to liquidity problems.
Nevertheless, the creative scene in Eastern Switzerland remains optimistic. After all, more than half of all respondents expect that their company will no longer feel any negative consequences of the coronavirus crisis by the second half of 2020 at the latest.
