Other survey results related to small business operations include:
- Half of New York’s small business respondents indicated they have paid employees who worked from home.
- One-quarter have seen operating capacity (maximum amount of activity possible under realistic operating conditions) decline by half or more from a year ago.
- 18 percent of respondents reported having either no cash on hand for business operations or only enough for two weeks or less.
Looking Ahead
Over half of New York State’s small businesses believe that more than six months will pass before their businesses return to a normal level of operations relative to a year ago and 11 percent believe their businesses will never return to normal, the survey found.
On a positive note, New York is a leader among the states in the proportion of small businesses with recent rehirings. During the week ended August 22, 11 percent of small businesses in New York reported rehiring employees who had been furloughed or laid off after March 13 – compared to 6 percent nationally. Due to survey limitations, data for more than a third of the states are not included in the Census Bureau results for this question.
