Thousands of Businesses Still Reporting Downtime – Employers Explained Why

According to the State Labor Inspectorate (VDI), on July 16, 2,091 companies were unemployed.

However, the data above shows that the total number of companies whose employees have not yet returned to work is decreasing each month.

The data provided by the SLI shows that on April 16, 2021 there were 9,355 companies of this type, on May 14 – 8,020, on June 18 – 5,717 and on July 16 – 2091.

According to the data of July 16, the largest number of employees was in the wholesale and retail trade sector, there were 530 companies, 370 companies in accommodation and food services activities and another 261 companies in companies dedicated to other service activities.

Based on the latest available data, the Employment Service announced that subsidies were paid to 14,000 in May. companies and 69,899 employees, for a total amount of 32.4 million euros. EUR. June data is said to be unavailable yet, as this month’s payments are made in July.

In general, in January-May of this year. A total of 23,160 companies have already received grants for 150,683 people. As specified, the amount paid was – 309 million. The average profit was € 490.84.

Downtime: Big Business Names

Among the companies that reported downtime in the current month, according to VDI, were well-known companies.

Among them, many bus fleets (UAB Klaipėdos autobusų parkas, UAB Ignalinos autobusų parkas, UAB Šakių autobusų parkas, UAB Tauragės autobusų parkas, UAB Joniškio autobusų parkas), as well as other larger companies, such as UAB Utenos prekyba, which operate large centers commercial. in Utena and small shops in rural areas, is the largest manufacturer of outerwear in the Baltic countries, UAB Lelija.

The list also includes UAB Grand SPA Lietuva, a UAB Tiketa ticket distribution company acquired by G. Žiemelis at the end of 2020, City Hotels, a company owned by Ogmios Grupa, owner of City Hotels-Algirdas and City hotels-Rūdninkai ”, located in the center of Vilnius.

In addition to the companies already mentioned, the restaurant chain UAB Gan bei city, UAB Delano and UAB Amber Food grupė, managed by Gediminas Balnis, owner of restaurant chains such as Charlie Pizza, La Crepe, Katpėdėlė ”and others.

The list also includes tour operators and agencies, such as ZIP Travel, AB Baltic Travel Service, UAB Magelano Reisid.

Also on the list is a Lithuanian European commercial aviation company offering private and charter flights and aircraft management services: UAB KlasJet.

The full list can be found here.

Explained the reasons

Delfi spoke to business representatives and asked why there was still no full return to work.

UAB Utenos prekyba operates 30 stores in and around Utena. It has a total of about 400 employees, as reported on the company’s website, and the company still has downtime today.

The director of the company Robertas Miliauskas said that one of the cafes managed by the company, located on Maironio street, is not yet operational in Utena, so three employees continue to be euthanized.

“These are waiters and chefs,” he explained.

When asked why this has not yet opened, the manager said that the cafeteria manager is currently retiring, so not all staff have been brought together, and once this is done, the cafeteria will reopen its doors.

In general, the director said that he did not dare to say that one could speak of a significant economic recovery in Utena.

“According to our sales, which we compared with last year, they are not lower, but I would not dare to call it growth. As much as we grow, it is more a consequence of inflation than a consequence of buyer activity.

Perhaps in Vilnius, Palanga or anywhere else, the economy is growing, but with us, in Utena, nobody realizes that something is growing or prospering a lot, ”he said.

The editorial board also contacted the Lithuanian company Avia Solutions Group, which owns UAB KlasJet and UAB Tiketa.

Vilma Vaitiekūnaitė, director of the communications department of Avia Solutions Group, confirmed that some employees are still in downtime, as, as stated, the employer cannot provide the employee with the work stipulated in the employment contract.

“The situation is determined by the situation in the markets where the companies operate.

The pandemic has reduced the viability of the sectors and it is difficult to predict the exact change, ”he said, but did not specify exactly how many workers remain in downtime in these companies.

Gediminas Balnis, head of the UAB Amber Food groupė, also spoke about the employees who have not returned to work. According to him, there are still restaurants that are not open today.

“It just came to our attention then.

And this is due to the fact that indoor restaurants without outdoor space, their load was very low throughout the month of June. We also have restaurants undergoing reconstruction, ”he said.

True, as assured, the amount of downtime is decreasing, but how many such workers today, to say exactly it could not.

“But there will be practically no such employees,” said G. Balnis, saying that customers have already returned to the cafes and are sitting inside.

“The flows are recovering, apparently people are getting used to eating indoors again,” he said.

In the event that the number of diseases increases again and the procedure hardens, G. Balnis assured that he was confident that the company could continue working with the passport of opportunity.

“People have to be forced to get vaccinated in some way, because testing is a thing of the past. Then we will achieve completely different vaccination rates,” he said.

It also works in the shade

Sigismund Mauricas, an economist at Luminor Bank, assured that the image of the Lithuanian economy is better today than expected, but we still have a recovery scenario K.

“It just came to our attention then. There are not many companies that are not recovering today. They are still looking for ways to mitigate those losses, how to integrate into the economy, but there are still,” he said.

The non-return of workers from downtime, according to the economist, is generally related to two things: limitations and not adapting to new realities.

“There are those who have not adapted at all to the new realities. It is both distance selling and popular work from home. I believe that these two trends will not go away and companies that have not adapted will continue to have big problems, ”Ž predicted. Mauricas.

It is true that all employees are honest and in downtime, said the economist, not believing it. According to him, while some companies wait for better times, some employees continue to work in the shadows while receiving benefits from the state.

“During that whole period (quarantine and downtime), I think people found activities. Usually they don’t notice anywhere. It’s a question of whether they really do something today, “he said.

The economist said there was also a lot of cunning in the UK.

“People were depressed until the last minute, but when companies started inviting them back to work, a fifth of them refused to come back.

Therefore, here too there can be all kinds of options, ”he said.