The business insists that, once the state of emergency is over, the government should respond urgently and save jobs. It is necessary to take new, adequate anti-crisis measures to support the business, as the situation on the labor market is deteriorating and the worst is yet to come. The Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association offers its assessment of the measure implemented so far, specifically aimed at protecting jobs and employment, which has become widely known as "60/40".
According to the association, the measure is not working because it does not meet the real challenges that Bulgarian companies face. It also incorrectly transposes the experience of leading European economies such as Germany and Austria. This is illustrated by the results of the March 27 – April 1, 2020 express survey of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce on the preparedness of companies to take advantage of the measure 38/62 to compensate employers, affected by the crisis, caused by the spread of COVID -19. The results of the express survey are based on 759 responses and the results should be taken seriously. The results obtained and published clearly show that no more than 8% of all employers are ready to benefit from the measure 38/62, from which:
– 44% have up to 10 persons employed;
– 55% work in the service sector;
– 35% are in the trade sector;
– Only 10% present the industry. All enterprises show negligible interest in the measure – especially those whose industry share is negligible;
– 48% work part-time after an internal order;
– 37% have stopped working completely due to the Minister of Health’s order;
-15% have completely stopped working after an internal order due to the unfavorable market situation.
– The structure of enterprises and companies that do not intend to take advantage of the measure speaks of the acceptability of the measure.
The measure will not be used by:
– 52% of the respondents because: "They cannot provide the remaining 40% plus 100% insurance";
– 21% of the respondents because: "It does not suit them";
-7% of respondents because: "They cannot guarantee employment for a period twice as long";
-4% of the respondents because: "They cannot prove the requirement for a 20% decrease in turnover for the reference period".
According to BG business, the 60/0 scheme is significantly fairer and will therefore be better perceived and widely applied to both employers and workers. This will ultimately lead to a more efficient use of the funds envisaged and, consequently, to the retention of more jobs. It should be noted that the proposed amount of 60% payable by the state is significantly lower than in many EU and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries – Austria (90%, 85%, 80%), United Kingdom (80%), Switzerland (80%), Slovenia (80%), Denmark (75%), Latvia (75%), Canada (75%), Cyprus (70%), etc. In neighboring Romania, which we like to compare ourselves with, the measure is 75/0.
"The COVD-19 crisis has again took the Bulgarian state and society by surprise with no prior preparation, we were again shocked and unprepared. It was necessary to develop, on an accelerated basis and state of emergency, anti-crisis legislation of poor quality and without a clear assessment of its impact. In the midst of each crisis, authorities begin to draft and propose anti-crisis measures to support employment, increase liquidity, provide social assistance to people in social crisis, etc. Instead, several indisputable anti-crisis measures should be adopted by broad public consensus, targeting each problem area, which should act automatically in the event of a crisis situation. Such a measure to maintain employment in times of economic crisis could be measure 60/0. This is also the German model of crisis legislation," employers say.
Therefore, the business insists on developing a set of measures to overcome the crisis, which will fully reflect the possible additional negative effects of the pandemic and to propose adequate and consistent measures to speed up the restoration of normality in society and the economy.
