A new survey shows businesses in Windsor-Essex expect to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic well into the future.
Workforce Windsor-Essex ran its annual Economic Development Survey from April 9 to April 30 this year with an emphasis on challenges faced throughout the pandemic.
Manager of Projects and Research Tashlyn Teskey says 77 per cent of the 280 business surveyed felt the impact of COVID-19 will be felt for six to 18 months after the pandemic is resolved.
Teskey says 75 per cent of respondents still felt Windsor-Essex is a good place to do business, but there are new challenges.
"Whether that's hindered their ability to operate the business like a restaurant or tourist activity, or just disruptions to their supply chain or their employee and talent pool," says Teskey.
She says 43 per cent of respondents still have people working in person and 12 per cent have people working from home.
"We found a lot of businesses found new ways to operate. Whether that was offering hybrid work models with people in the workplace and at home and maybe created new automation to simplify that," she says.
Teskey says the feedback section of the survey made it clear there are gaps in the system when it comes to COVID-19 relief.
"A lot of businesses found themselves ineligible for different government supports and financial incentives and that's something we need to look at," she says. "What's restricting them? Is it employee size or a sector that they work in? We need to make sure everyone is eligible for the supports they need."
According to the survey, 46 per cent of businesses say they launched a new product or service to adapt to the pandemic.