Corona Flashsurvey #2

Many German companies in Japan confirm to be significantly impacted by the COVID-19 events. Most of them have reacted quickly and keep business running thanks to home office, flexible working hours and other measures. These results summarize the findings of the latest survey by AHK Japan almost 400 German companies in Japan.

The majority of German companies has reacted flexibly in the past few weeks. 81% of the companies have introduced home office (“teleworking”), 56% super-flexible working hours. Some companies have introduced rotating teams that work on separate days to ensure social distancing.

The first survey in mid-February showed some implications on the supply chains, but the companies did not yet report any serious side effects of the corona virus on their business.

In the current survey, however, more than half of the companies confirm decreased demand for their product or services (55%) and a negative impact on business and investment decisions (52%). 75% of companies expect sales to decline this year, almost half believe that the decline could be limited up to 20%. More than 25%, however, expect declines of up to 40%, some even of up to 60%.

The online survey conducted by AHK Japan ran from March 30 to April 1. 93 responses from 394 companies were included in the evaluation. This corresponds to a representative quota of 24 percent.