Results of an economic survey show Â鶹´«Ã½ businesses are suffering greatly due to COVID-19 and many look forward to resuming operations once they are cleared to reopen.
The survey, conducted in April 2020 by the and the , received responses from 623 businesses. Philip Garboden, Â鶹´«Ã½ Community Reinvestment Corporation professor in affordable housing, and assistant professor in UHERO and the in the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ , said the hardest hit industries are accommodations (hotels), down 83 percent in full-time employee reductions, and retail businesses, down 76 percent.
Garboden also said most businesses surveyed anticipate reopening as soon as they are allowed, and 60 percent said they could return to full staff almost immediately, with the rest phasing in as tourism resumes.
Findings also show that while there have been more cases of job loss on Oʻahu, its percentage (38 percent) is lower than for businesses on Maui (58 percent), Kauaʻi (52 percent) and Â鶹´«Ã½ Island (48 percent), due to a larger share of tourism-related companies on the neighbor islands.
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