Economic Impacts of Coronavirus Outbreak

Economic Impacts of Coronavirus Outbreak

COVID19 has come with a range of negative influences on the global economy. Different policies have prevented people from going to work, walk in the streets, and perform their regular daily routines to satisfy their economic needs. Policies have prevented public gatherings, making it harder for people to come together as usual to conduct business transactions and to earn a living. Many people have begun to worry about the policies and what they would do to continue their survival in the coming days, should the spread of COVID19 not be stopped.

Companies have encountered hard times in their endeavours to continue providing their services and meet market demands. The outbreak of the disease has made it difficult for many of these companies to continue producing the usual quantities of products to make their business profitable. Many employees have been requested to stay at home, leaving their organizations with few workers who may not present the required workforce.

There used to be a free distribution of the stranger every other week in Seattle. Upon the outbreak of the disease, the shipping was reduced to zero.  Upon the outbreak of the disease, the community paper advertising business also collapsed. Movie theatres, arts venues, music clubs, and concert halls are all empty now. Such overnight changes are enormous troubles for a significant portion of the population that depended on it as a source of livelihood, recreational, and other services it offered.

The outbreak of COVID19 has brought significant changes to advertising companies. Those companies that depended on taking advantage of crowds to pass their intended advertisements are now facing challenging times. They have to find new ways to perform their ads, and cannot compete with television, and other methods that do not require to go straight to the crowds.

The outlook of all news organizations is continually becoming precarious.  Regardless of their operational robustness, they have no choice but to wait for the situation to change to routine. It is difficult to tell when the case will be contained. Besides, it is difficult to understand what it will take to say the situation is contained. During all this time, companies may not be able to plan or to develop a strategic plan. These news organizations will only wait and hope for a better outcome of the efforts made by researchers to remedy the issue of COVID19.

A large news company such as BuzzFeed has proposed to lay down 25% of its employees to contain the hard economic times. The company has also mentioned forgoing the paying of its employees during the entire COVID19 period. Such a situation is complicated, considering the uncertainties associated with knowing when the disease would end, and the status returned to normal. Other companies, however, have opted to keep all employees but with no pay throughout the period. It is more convenient for many employees, as they prefer to stay without pay and get back to the job once the situation is contained. Many firms will opt to go for the second alternative, to keep colleagues, though, the colleagues will have severe economic times.

More companies such as Gannett, which owns USA Today, among other local news companies, seeks to find ways to cut down operational costs immediately. The plan will cross through April, May, and June. This is an indication that the pandemic has brought significant pressure on the economy, and the period for hard times is still long. Pay reduction would impact workers negatively at personal levels.

News Paper publishers with significant influences such as the McClatchy is in bankruptcy now. Many other news firms are either in bankruptcy or in huge debts. The whole news industry has felt the pain. The period to endure the pain is precarious.

Many retailers have cancelled most of their advertisement plans. Such a move has had immense negative impacts on the existing advertising companies, most of which are news and print organizations. The past two weeks have seen retailers cancel advertisements worth millions of dollars.

The distribution of the print media has been hampered significantly. Their production has also reduced considerably. The Los Angeles Times and other notable organizations have mentioned not hiring for open positions, except those essential to ensure the basic operations are performed. As a result, many people will remain unemployed.

COVID19 pandemic has contributed to enormous rates of unemployment across the globe. Most organizations are no longer operational. Others are not hiring for existing open positions. Others are sending employees home to reduce operational costs. Others are forcing employees to remain without wages and salaries until a time unknown. Social distancing and the increasing spread of the disease have also discouraged many people from going out and perform casual jobs the usual way to earn a living. Many news companies have faced a hard time and are closing down one by one. The pandemic is a big blow to the economy.

Retrieved from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/30/coronavirus-covid-19-news-newspapers-media-business-disaster/2931503001/