Businesses are rapidly adjusting as the second covid-19 wave hit our country. Restrictions on the movement of people & goods have impacted businesses. Small businesses are the hardest hit across India. Business leaders & management must make rapid decisions and take immediate actions to protect the health & safety of their people and workplaces.
The outbreak of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented shock to the Indian economy. The Government of India has announced a variety of measures to tackle the situation including extra funds for healthcare, sector-related incentives, and tax timeline extensions. With the uncertainty & time state-level lockdown, global economic downturn, and associated disruption of demand and supply chains, the economy is likely to face a protracted period of slowdown.
The impact of coronavirus pandemic on India has been largely disruptive in terms of loss of human lives as well as economic activities. Almost all the sectors have been adversely affected as domestic demand and exports sharply gone down with some notable exceptions where growth was observed.
Restrictions on the movement of people and goods have impacted workforce capacity and disrupted supply chain, bringing economic activity to an almost stand-still. While most respondents don’t expect their industry to recover soon, they are also not confident of the effectiveness of measures to support their industry-specific challenges at the state level.
Most Indian businesses are operating at limited capacity and facing the heat from supply chain disruption and movement constraints. This situation is adding to financial burden and making it difficult to pay interest and EMI against loans and even salaries. Economic uncertainties are forcing businesses to reduce costs and also consider deferring long-term capex plans. The coming few weeks will be deciding factor of the future of the businesses.
Business activity in India falls as second Covid-19 wave impacts badly. The Tourism, Hospitality, Aviation, Entertainment, Tech, Retail & eCommerce, EV and Mobile Phone industries are severely affected by the current coronavirus spread and due to lock downs in various states. Indeed small businesses are the hardest hit across India. The current second wave coronavirus spread has presented new roadblocks for the Indian economy and causing disruptive impact on Indian businesses. The challenge for consumer goods companies is to redesign their supply-chain operating models to be good enough to meet new consumer demands. The recent shortage of beds & oxygen in various cities created more fear in the mind of work force to go out for work.
Businesses are rapidly adjusting as the second covid-19 wave hit our country. While the crisis unfolds, leaders should also prepare for what is coming next. The new reality taking shape is made of complexity, uncertainty and opportunities. Business leaders need change in approach & thinking in this new environment including people, process, product, operations and technology perspective with scale & speed.
Now, business leaders & managements need to take rapid decisions & immediate actions to protect the health & safety of their people and workplaces. They need to keep their employees retained to be in the business and for the cut above the rest of competitors.
On the other hand, pandemic forced people to stay indoors, resulting smartphones became their window to the world. Smartphones helping them stay connected with friends & Work From Home. The pandemic saw smartphone usage zoom. With the help of smartphones, people tried to learn new things, including cooking and gardening. Growing popularity of OTT platforms & Internet connectivity, smart TV market will grow in the near future.
In the post-pandemic world, businesses need to learn to thrive. Businesses emerging from the crisis are realizing that workforces require new capabilities to face the digital and environmental future. They need to develop talent and knowledge. To flourish during and after the pandemic, companies need a new set of skills, including social and emotional, advanced cognitive and digital capabilities.
By
BHUPESH RASEEN
Chairman-Mobile Advisory Committee, TMA
Board Member-Ghana India Trade Advisory Chamber (GITAC)
