According to a report by the Institute of Small Enterprise of the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE), about 40,000 businesses are expected to shut down by the end of year, bringing the total of bankrupt SMEs to 90,000. This translates to about 150,000 hobs.
The report was based on a sample of 1,200 very small and small enterprises (with up to 49 employees), in order to get an impression of the financial state in the sectors of manufacturing, trade and services. Such businesses reflect 99.6% of enterprises in Greece.
The study’s main focus points are:
- Marginal slowing down of decline in turnover, demand and liquidity; business expectations are in decline for the first time since January 2011.
- Inability to cover business obligations towards state (taxes, insurance contributions).
- Serious challenges faced by very small enterprises in trade sector.
- Confirmation of previous GSEVEE research data on closures are job losses.
- Grim predictions on future closures and job losses.
- Ongoing, rapid changes to work environment (salaries, working hours etc).
- Discouraging business predictions regarding recovery of the economy.
- Lack of confidence in existing political forces.
- Collapse of internal tourism.
