April 21, 2020
Regina, Saskatchewan — A new survey from the Saskatchewan Association of Automotive Repairers has found that more than seven-in-ten provincial business owners have laid-off part of their workforce since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The survey, which covered a number of topics, received responses from 99 SAAR members.
When it asked “have you had to lay off any employees yet?” just 36 percent answered that they had not.
The majority of respondents said they had done some laying-off, but not an extraordinary amount. 34 percent answered they had done a little laying-off and, 22 percent said they had done a moderate amount.
Seven percent of respondents said they had done an extraordinary amount of laying-off, with five percent answering “a lot,” and with two percent answering “a great deal.”
The survey also asked the responders about whether their business had applied for any government assistance. According to the results, just 38 percent of respondents had pursued government financial assistance.
“I am surprised that only 38 percent of you have applied for government assistance,” Bissonnette wrote in a note to SAAR members. “Even if things are going O.K. now, nobody knows how long this will last so you may want to start the process even if you don’t follow through on it.”
The full results of the survey can be viewed here.
For more information about SAAR, visit its website.
