It won’t be far from the truth if we say that Covid-19 has affected not only the health but also the wealth of the world. Due to the lockdown across the globe, the overall economy of the world has unfortunately gone down. Amidst all, few industries were affected more than the others. Here are some of the sectors that were hit the hardest due to the pandemic.
1. Travel and tourism
The travel & tourism industry is probably one of the most severely affected sectors by the coronavirus outbreak. With COVID-19 being a pandemic, people are avoiding travel to different countries and cities, which has negatively impacted the travel business and has affected the tourism benefits of the affected countries. The loss around the world together is in the hundreds of billions. In India alone, this situation has led to around 38 million job losses. The sector employs 12.75 per cent of the country’s workforce.
2. Retail
Malls, shopping centres are temporarily closed due to COVID-19. Even, when people remove themselves from group events and cramped rooms, they tend to buy their favourites or desires online. The same is true in the retail business. Many stores were shut down for months which resulted in the decline of sales and hence the revenue. Although bigger stores with online platforms were somehow able to sustain smaller retailers are still going through a huge period of loss. Almost 80,000 people in the retail industry have lost their job.
3. Insurance
The rise of coronavirus cases may lead to the demand for certain insurance types. As the virus continues to dominate the headlines, there is a hike in demand and awareness about insurance plans for health and life coverage. The demand for life and health insurance policies has seen a jump of 35-40 per cent on online insurance platforms in India. Whereas, travel insurers have experienced a downfall in the number of insurances due to travel restrictions. Depending upon the type of insurance that a company deals in, there are positives and negatives of coronavirus pandemic on the insurance industry. A lot of people are running towards the insurance company but departments like health, life insurance, and general insurance have seen a downfall whereas, cyber-security insurance has seen a rise in the revenue.
4. Entertainment
The entertainment sector is adversely impacted by the spread of coronavirus. However, as more people sit at home, in solitude, and taking isolation steps, there is increased use of alternative content channels, such as games, video-on-demand, etc. Disney and Universal Studios have planned to shut down several theme parks as large gatherings may trigger the spread of coronavirus. Movie theatres are temporarily locked down in parts of India, amidst the COVID-19 spread.
5. Food and restaurants
Since the pandemic has hit the world like a wave, people around the world have been avoiding going out in public. There is no doubt that people are scared to eat and drink outside. Unsure of who and how the food was cooked, Majority chose to not dine out which drastically led to the downfall in the finances of restaurants. Many street food vendors and small food joints had to face severe loss due to the lockdown. According to a report, 10 per cent of the restaurants have shut down in India while 30-40 per cent more can go out of business due to the pandemic.
6. Automobile industry
The automobile industry is something that was not directly but was severely affected by the Covid-19. What makes the auto industry susceptible to being impacted by the virus is the dependence on various players for different parts. Even one missing part from Tier-1 or Tier-2 is enough to stop entire carmakers or whole industries. Considering that the Indian auto industry relies on China for more than 20 per cent of the imports in 2020 has been a further worst year as the regions are dealing with the virus at different periods. Unfortunately for India, Maharashtra aka the Indian Automobile industry is one of the most affected places in the country.
7. Airlines and Hotels
Protection strategies of the airborne virus have led to the widespread destruction of any business closely linked to the tourism sector. The limitations were first imposed on East Asian visitors and further applied to Europe. Without a vaccine in sight, nations were forced to close their doors, ultimately leading to the cessation of all modes of transport. The aviation sector in India might eventually end up losing over thousands of crores.
The current situation has put these industries (and many others) in a very difficult position. Although the recovery is slowly being paced up but with no vaccine in sight, the future still seems cloudy and unstable. The constant hire and fire are very prevalent in the eighth month since the pandemic and lockdown has hit. New job opportunities in these fields right now could be a tough nut to crack. Right now, we can hope for things to get better.
Anjali is studying journalism at the University of Delhi. She has had some experience in writing blogs, news posts, interviewing professionals for feature write-ups etc., and aspires to host a TV show someday soon.