Small Businesses Worry Delta Variant Will Halt Their Recovery

Almost half (47%) of small businesses surveyed in the August State of Small Business Report from Alignable fear the government will mandate reclosures as the number of people with COVID-19 increases due to the highly contagious delta variant.

The survey of 5,262 small business owners from July 31 to Aug. 9 found that revenues and customer counts continued to climb for many small businesses. However, these improvements were smaller in August than in July and projections show these gains could be reversed if the delta variant surges continue.

The report also revealed small business worries about rising inflation and struggles with the labor shortage.

The survey found:

• 63% of small businesses surveyed believe the delta variant will put the entire small business economy at greater risk
• 76% are worried that the delta variant will hinder or even reverse their company’s recovery 59% say they can’t find employees for their businesses, an increase of 9% from the July report
• 59% say they can’t find employees for their businesses, an increase of 9% from the July report
• 72% said they are more likely to hire someone who has been fully vaccinated compared to those who have yet to receive vaccines
• 80% say they are experiencing higher costs because of the pandemic and almost 30% are seeing cost increases over 25%. 

Learn more about the delta variant in this ISSA Cleaning Industry Alert featuring Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner from Global Biorisk Advisory Council^TM (GBAC), a Division of ISSA.