Opinion Poll: 1 in 3 Romanian Companies to Fire Employees following Huge Energy Bills

One-third of Romanian entrepreneurs will fire staff due to excessive energy costs. According to Romanian National Council for Small and Medium Private Enterprises (CNIPMMR), the latest survey shows a worrying result. Here are the statistics:

This opinion poll isn’t surprising, as the energy costs have skyrocketed lately. Therefore, over 34% of the entrepreneurs say that they will reduce the number of employees due to the increase in electricity and gas bills, and 8% will close their company, according to the survey conducted by CNIPMMR.

Half of the 2260 entrepreneurs interviewed said their energy bills increased by 50%, and some showed that more than double the usual amount. Only 0.41% indicated that their energy bill remained the same.

Regarding gas bills, 37% of the entrepreneurs declared that their bill amount increased by 50%, while 29% said they paid double. 20% said that the bill has more than doubled, and 5.4% stated that the gas bill did not increase or remain the same.

What measures do the Romanian entrepreneurs take to cope with the huge energy bills?

The purpose of this survey, conducted by CNIPMMR, was to identify the measures that entrepreneurs would take to reduce losses.

• 76% said they would reduce or postpone investments
• 44% said they would reduce the company’s activity,
• 38% said they would defer the acquisition of digitization programs.
• 35% said they would reduce the number of employees
• 8% said they would close the company.

According to CNIPMMR president Florin Jianu, the most important of the survey’s conclusions is that, unfortunately, almost one of ten companies will be forced to close in the next period following the increasing energy bills.

Suppose the prices of energy and gas bills will continue to rise. In that case, many more entrepreneurs will have to make difficult decisions such as dismissing employees to maintain the business on track or, in the worse case, to close. Either way, the outcome of this will leave many people unemployed. For all those who find it challenging to survive this difficult period, we compiled some advice in the following material: How to survive the economic crisis as an entrepreneur. Maybe this would help at least some entrepreneurs facing tough times ahead.