• However, most report reduced sales, and more than a third fear a continuing downturn.
  • The pandemic is motivating companies to innovate, including the use of digital tools - especially in middle-income countries.

Polish companies against the global backdrop

Polish businesses are weathering the pandemic better than most companies worldwide. This is the conclusion of the "State of Small Business" report just published by Facebook in cooperation with the World Bank and the OECD. In the survey conducted in February, 84 percent of companies surveyed on Facebook declared that they were still operating. For comparison, the global average for that period was 76 percent. Polish companies were also less likely to reduce employment. Only 13 percent of Polish companies reported pandemic-related layoffs - worldwide, as many as 30 percent of businesses were forced to do so.

Poland also performed better when it came to the impact of the pandemic on women's entrepreneurship. Globally, it was women-led businesses that were more often forced to close. The difference between the percentage of closed women-led and men-led businesses is as much as 6 percentage points. Although this disparity was also clear among Polish companies last year, it was not observed in the latest edition of the survey. Nevertheless, also in Poland, women-led companies more often recorded a decline in revenue than those owned by men.

Challenges despite better results

This does not mean, however, that Polish entrepreneurs emerged from the first year of the pandemic unscathed. 57 percent of operating Polish companies report lower sales than a year ago, and 36 percent of them expect reduced demand in the coming months. 13 percent of Polish companies also fear liquidity problems - although this is a smaller percentage than the global average (19 percent).

Robert Bednarski, Regional Director CEE at Facebook, emphasizes the role of innovation and digital tools in coping with the effects of the pandemic: "More than 60 percent of companies worldwide declared that they had made changes to the way they run their business. More widespread use of digital tools is one of the most important changes. Already 55 percent of companies worldwide use them to communicate with customers. Interestingly, changes were more often introduced by companies from middle-income countries (68 percent) than from highly developed ones (55 percent). Data from the State of Small Business survey also consistently show that companies using digital tools for sales cope better during the pandemic."

Exhaustion and concerns worldwide

Polish companies are coping better during the pandemic than others

The "State of Small Business" report also reveals the exhaustion of companies worldwide after a year of operating in a pandemic crisis. Only 54 percent of surveyed businesses are confident that they will be able to survive the next six months under current conditions. More than half of companies also believe that within the next six months they will not be able to rehire employees. Data from the report also clearly show the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on hotels and restaurants. One in four companies worldwide in this sector has been closed, and 43 percent of those still operating were forced to reduce employment by at least half.

The State of Small Business survey was conducted this year, 2021, in 27 countries, among 35,000 people managing small and medium-sized businesses. It is a continuation of a survey conducted between May and October 2020 and aims to understand the challenges and needs of entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary

Polish companies are weathering the pandemic better than most global businesses - according to the "State of Small Business" report prepared by Facebook in cooperation with the World Bank and the OECD. 84 percent of Polish companies are still operating, and layoffs affected only 13 percent of them, compared with 30 percent globally. The difference in the closure of women-led and men-led businesses, visible worldwide, does not occur in Poland. Nevertheless, 57 percent of Polish companies are recording sales declines, and 36 percent fear a downturn. The report also points to the key role of digital tools - although they are used more often by companies from middle-income countries (68 percent) than highly developed ones (55 percent).