Impact and Response of Businesses in Australia to COVID-19

AuthorsRebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Daniel Kiely, Astghik Mavisakalyan
PublishedJuly 2020
PublisherBankwest Curtin Economics Centre

COVID-19 has significantly impacted on businesses and workers over the last three months, with most business predictions reported back in March playing out across the sectors.

Businesses have had to make big changes to their workforce, both in terms of the number of workers and the hours they work. Businesses have also had to adjust the way they work, with thousands of workers moving to a working from home environment overnight.

This research brief provides an overview of the state of businesses in Australia throughout the COVID-19 pandemic from mid-March through to latest business impacts in June.

The immediate impacts resulting from the crisis are reviewed, and the extent to which businesses have responded to these impacts including changes to their workforce and the take up of supports available and where they are seeking advice from and how their business operations and practices have changed.

The extent to which such impacts and responses vary by business size and industry are examined and how these differences are likely to impact on the future success or otherwise of these businesses.