In order to further identify the weak links restricting post-epidemic economic recovery and improve the accuracy of the policy of "six stability and six protection", the macroeconomic Research Department of the Development Research Center of The State Council and Zhaopin.com formed a research team to conduct a questionnaire survey on 6,802 enterprises and 4,775 job seekers based on the big data of Zhaopin.com. Recently released a report titled "Research on the Status quo of small and micro Enterprises in Zhaopin.com when the epidemic becomes normal".
The report shows that since the beginning of the third quarter, the economy has continued to recover steadily on the whole, but the characteristics of imbalance and insufficiency are still prominent, and the recovery of small and micro enterprises is relatively lagging behind. The development difficulties are summarized in the following five aspects.
Difficult to expand the market: the profitability has been severely impacted
The year-on-year decline in orders of small and micro enterprises and the rise in labor costs combined to cause the decline in profitability. 57.6% of small and micro enterprises saw a year-on-year decline in order volume, with the most severe decline in goods transportation, manufacturing, catering, accommodation, tourism, travel, culture and other service industries, among which the epidemic is the main influencing factor. According to the report "Research on the Status quo of small and micro enterprises in the period of normal Zhaopin.com epidemic", the logistics disruption, delayed resumption of production and work, and reduced eating out due to the virus prevention will have a serious impact on these industries. At the same time, the year-on-year increase in recruitment and welfare expenditure leads to the simultaneous rise in labor costs of small and micro enterprises.
Regional balance is difficult: different regions have a big gap in competitiveness
The competitiveness of small and micro enterprises varies greatly in different regions. In terms of number, developed coastal areas such as Jiangsu, Shandong and Guangdong account for the highest proportion of small and micro enterprises in China, while there are fewer in Tibet, Qinghai and Ningxia. From the perspective of operation, the profitability of small and micro enterprises in Zhejiang is strong, while the profitability of Ningxia is weak. In terms of recruitment demand, the year-on-year growth of demand in Tibet and other regions is higher than that in developed regions.
Financing difficulties: Demand and cost of financing have rebounded
Expensive and difficult financing are still the main problems facing small and micro enterprises. The financing cost of 34% of small and micro enterprises in China increased from the same period last year, and the proportion increased from the previous month, especially in catering, accommodation, tourism, travel, culture and other services as well as research and development design, technical services and information services.
According to the report "Research on the Status Quo of Small and micro Enterprises in the Normal Period of Zhaopin.com epidemic", this is caused by the inherent deficiencies of small and micro enterprises and external impacts, including small scale, weak competitiveness, poor anti-risk ability and lack of standardized management, which make the financing parties reluctant to finance them, and even if they are willing, they will require small and micro enterprises to pay a high "risk premium". For example, loan guarantee fees, consulting fees, etc., and the impact of the epidemic makes small and micro enterprises in high risk, more difficult to obtain financing.
Difficulty in innovation and upgrading: insufficient R&D investment and late maintenance funds
Small and micro enterprises acquire technology mainly by independent accumulation, but research and development investment is relatively insufficient. According to the statistics disclosed by the National Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Share Transfer System in 2018, 78.2% of small and micro enterprises have invested in R&D, and 51.2% of them have increased their R&D investment, averaging 2.72 million yuan per company, up 22.4% year on year. But most small and micro businesses have meagre profits, which makes it difficult for them to sustain long-term research and development investment. For example, 88.9 percent of information technology companies invested in research and development, but their median net profit in the first half of the year was only 200,000 yuan.
According to the report "Research on the Status Quo of Small and micro Enterprises in the normal period of Zhaopin.com epidemic", insufficient R&D investment and high patent maintenance cost make it difficult for small and micro enterprises to innovate and upgrade. Due to the lack of innovation environment, it is difficult for small and micro enterprises to attract or retain innovative technical talents, which further leads to their weak innovation ability, and the gap between them and large and medium-sized enterprises continues to widen.
Difficult to match talent supply and demand: talent structure does not match enterprise demand
Small and micro enterprises are difficult to match talent supply and demand, and difficult to recruit. According to Zhaopin.com, in terms of positions, the number of technicians/operators recruited by small and micro enterprises increased by 174.2% year on year, but the number of deliveries only increased by 41.2%. In terms of academic qualifications, small and micro enterprises' recruitment demand for talents with high school/technical/secondary school degrees increased year on year, while the number of applicants for such talents decreased by more than 6% year on year. The above factors lead to the mismatch between talent structure and enterprise demand.
Data source: Zhaopin
Recruitment is hard, but retention is also hard. Poor stability, low salary level and small promotion space become the main factors that hinder small and micro enterprises to attract talents. According to Zhaopin.com's data, the dissatisfaction with these three factors is as high as 42%, 48% and 55% respectively, all exceeding the dissatisfaction with the timeliness of salary payment and the completeness of social security.
