According to a study by CIP - Confederação Empresarial de Portugal “only 10 percent” of managers and entrepreneurs consider that, in their sector, recovery will take place by the end of 2021, with the same percentage (10 percent) saying that they believe that economic recovery will only take place after 2023.

This is one of the results of the 14th survey carried out within the scope of the “Vital Signs” project, developed by CIP, in partnership with ISCTE's Marketing FutureCast Lab, which studied 618 companies, of which 4 percent were considered to be large companies.

The study also showed that there is still a great deal of uncertainty in the economy with 30 percent of entrepreneurs and managers choosing the option “I don't know” for this question about when sectorial recovery will take place.

The vice president of CIP, Óscar Gaspar, underlined that the results of the survey show that the crisis is "intense and lasting" and that economic recovery is still "very far" from being achieved with support for the economy needed across the board, with 84 percent of companies stating that the support they have received is “below” what they actually need.

The majority (59 percent) of companies still consider the easing of lockdown plan adequate, but there are 20 percent who consider it too slow and restrictive and 21 percent who believe it to be too fast or imprudent.

According to the survey results, companies' sales expectations for the 2nd quarter of 2021 “are negative compared to the same period in 2019”, with 42 percent expecting a decrease, against 22 percent of companies predicting growth.
On average 75 percent of companies expect to maintain the number of jobs in their companies until July 2021, while 13 percent foresee an increase and 12 percent a decrease.