- Report from Facebook and Small Business Roundtable looks at closure rates of small and medium-sized businesses worldwide
- Business closures in February were nearly as common as in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic
- More than one in four small or medium-sized businesses had reduced their workforce
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
Pandemic-related closures are continuing to weigh on small and medium-sized businesses, with a recent report from Facebook and the Small Business Roundtable.
The survey of 35,000 companies worldwide found that 22 percent were closed in February. This was up from 14 percent in October and nearly equal to a high point in May, when 23 percent of surveyed businesses were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twenty-seven percent of small or medium-sized businesses had reduced their workforce, and just over half were not planning to hire back workers in the next six months. However, 18 percent had already hired back some employees in the past three months.
The report also noted the varying effect of the pandemic among different states and demographic groups, with women- and minority-owned businesses more likely to report closures.
