New Delhi: Over three-fourths of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the national capital region have cut employee salaries while nearly two-third are resorting to layoffs after seeing no rise in demand, a private survey showed.
Forty four per cent of respondents said the relief measures announced by the government earlier this week did not meet expectations and 86% wanted direct cash support from the government.
The most immediate challenge for MSMEs remains paying salaries, discharging vendor bills, and meeting other fixed expenses, with around 77% of the surveyed businesses citing need for emergency funds, the survey said.
The Survey was conducted by Skoch Consultancy Services in association with Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), Bhartiya Vitta Salahkar Samiti and Tax Law Educare Society.
The business sentiment for survival, however, has improved.
In May 2020, the number of MSMEs cuttingall jobs rose to 6% from 4% in April. Another 30% are planning to cut half the jobs and 26% are planning to reduce a quarter of the jobs.
The survey sought response to the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package announced by the Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this month. It was conducted among 200 memmembers of FISME in the National Capital Region.
On the overall Atma Nirbhar Package cutting across all sectors, 32% respondents found it useful, 44% did not, the survey revealed.
“Overall sense is that the package was difficult to understand and not addressing the felt-needs that MSMEs have and therefore the mood overall is grim,” the survey results, accessed exclusively by ET, said.
