58% Staff In Travel Sector Had Salary Cuts Due To Covid-19; 20% Indian Firms Fired Employees

Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted all industries across world, most of them are the professionals in the travel and hospitality industry with almost 13 per cent trimmed and 58 per cent received reduction in salary.

According to a study conducted by Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) it has concluded that comparatively hard hit professionals were in the government, not-for-profit, and education sectors, and 5 per cent of whom were downsize and around 52 per cent receiving reduced salary.

The survey was conducted in five countries: India, China, Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates and the United States (US) and it is based on a review of 1,481 accounting and finance professionals located in above country.

All the responses were equally divided among those five countries and almost one-third of them were women and the lowest percentage was in Saudi Arabia it was as low as 18 percent and it was highest in China with 51 percent. Particular to India, around 30 per cent were women.
The survey also confirmed what has been widely reported in the news: the pandemic severely impacted employment around the world. Approximately half the companies surveyed said that they had to let some of their staff go.

India ranked highest in letting go of the employees with 20 percent in all regions and UAE follows India with around 10 percent.

A shift in priorities, with an increased emphasis on risk management, cash forecasting, and management has been necessitated by the resultant economic environment said Raef Lawson, VP, Research and Policy Professor-in-Residence, IMA.

Work from home : A challenge

New challenges in the context of finance are brought out by the employees. Key challenges among them are to enable the staff to work from home (38 per cent of respondents) and providing a safe environment (37 per cent of respondents) for those who needed to come to the workplace. An extension to the first challenge is the need to train staff on the tools that enable them to work from home (26 per cent of respondents).

Indians least confident in the relevance of their skills post-pandemic

Whether or not their current professional skills shall be relevant post-Covid-19 era is a significant concern among survey respondents. With 10 percent being unsure, 12 per cent believed their skills would not be relevant.

In India, the figures are 16 per cent as unsure, whereas 15 per cent believing them not to be relevant.
Those in India were the least confident in the relevance of their skills post-pandemic, with only 69 per cent believing they would be relevant, 15 per cent believing them not to be relevant, and 16 per cent unsure.

Lawson said that the pandemic has accelerated changes within the field of finance and accounting, and that is evident from many finance professionals showing concerns about the evolving skill sets required post-Covid-19 and thinking to enhance their skills in order to maintain as well as advance in their careers.

The problem is not just the intend or need to upskill, but also the ability. As financial resources are required to upskill, as many as 72 per cent of the respondents believed that their respective companies should financially support employee upskilling according to the findings of the survey.

This factor was consistent across all countries. China had 57 per cent actual support of upskilling efforts whereas it was 55 per cent in the US to 47 per cent in India.