Published at the end of October, the 5th QBE-OpinionWay barometer reveals the short-term optimism of executives, CFOs and risk managers of VSEs and SMEs. Thus, even if the crisis has brought new risks to the fore, managers remain confident about their ability to bounce back in the next 6 months.
91% of VSE and SME managers say they are confident about their prospects for recovery over the next six months. This is the very good result of the 5th QBE-OpinionWay barometer published at the end of October. This optimism can be explained in part by the fact that companies have taken steps, particularly in terms of organization, to deal with the crisis and maintain their activity. For example, 59% say they have reorganized their premises (separate offices, reinforced cleaning, etc.), and 51% have reviewed the organization of work within their organization. Furthermore, 40% have initiated or reinforced a crisis management policy, and 31% have set up a crisis unit.
Beware, this period of recovery will always include risks that must be well understood by the financial and risk management departments in particular. Among the main concerns of companies in this period, we find first of all the fear of a shortage or increase in the price of raw materials, feared by 54% of the 300 executives, CFOs, and risk management managers of VSEs and SMEs surveyed, and up to 71% of industrial companies.
Financial risk down
Next are the risks directly related to the Covid-19 crisis. 97% of respondents said they were facing new risks directly related to this crisis. Thus, 44% are worried about the implementation of a strict sanitary protocol for their customers, 34% of them also declare to be impacted by the implementation of the sanitary pass. This figure rises to 44% for the trade sector. Finally, companies fear that teleworking, introduced more than a year ago, will also have a negative impact on their employees. Indeed, 33% of the SMEs and ETIs questioned consider that it generates new risks, and in particular a weakening of the mental health of the employees, risk quoted by 30% of the companies questioned.
It is also worth noting that in last year's barometer, financial risk had experienced the strongest increase with +10 points, and was a risk for 52% of companies surveyed. This figure has decreased significantly this year, as companies are more confident about their financial strength. However, almost 30% of the companies surveyed fear loss of revenue due to customer defaults, while 18% are concerned that they will have to start repaying EMPs obtained during the crisis.