As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across Mexico, with currently 5,000 confirmed cases and 332 deaths, companies are making and planning adjustments for the next months.

According to the PwC’s COVID-19 CFO Pulse Survey, 39% of the finance leaders are expecting that layoffs will take place in the coming month, and 30% expect to open applications for temporary leave. This reflects a major change. Two weeks ago, only 16% of finance executives in the US and Mexico expected layoffs, while 44% forecasted temporary leaves.

The results also show restrictions in the labor supply. More than half (55%) of the executives anticipate that the lack of remote work skills will lead to a loss of productivity, and 27% expect that the lack of qualified staff could hinder the performance of essential tasks. This indicates that companies are having to make difficult decisions: cost reduction versus maintenance of teams that will be fundamental later for the resumption of activities.

“Around 27% of the companies consider that it will take between one and three months to reach a certain normality of what the economic and business situation was (before the pandemic). However, 33% consider that this period can range from three to six months, and 30% that the recovery will take place between six and 12 months”, Mauricio Hurtado, partner director at PwC, told Milenio.