Has the economy in Central and Eastern Thuringia survived the coronavirus pandemic?

Five Thuringian business development agencies launch a study together with Friedrich Schiller University Jena

What will working conditions look like in the future? Has digitalization received as strong a boost as assumed at the beginning of the pandemic? Will investment reach pre-pandemic levels? A survey of companies and self-employed people in Central and Eastern Thuringia aims to provide differentiated answers to these and similar questions. To this end, five Thuringian business development agencies from the districts of Weimarer Land, Saale-Holzland-Kreis and the cities of Erfurt, Weimar and Jena are joining forces for the first time and cooperating with the Chair of Economic Geography at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The economic development agencies and the university have been working on a joint questionnaire and coordinated measures since February 2021. Around 21,000 companies and business people from a wide range of economic sectors have been invited to take part in the survey.

"The aim is to draw a comprehensive picture of all sectors in order to assess the short, medium and long-term effects on the economic area," explains Prof. Dr. Sebastian Henn, Chair of Economic Geography at the University of Jena. "Only if we know which sectors are facing which challenges and how they are reacting to social and economic changes can we develop needs-based support services," says Prof. Henn.

In contrast to numerous surveys conducted since the start of the pandemic, the focus is not solely on concrete effects, but also on medium-term effects. Particular attention is paid to areas such as willingness to invest, personnel development and digitalization.

"The conclusions drawn from the survey," emphasize all representatives of the participating business development agencies together, "will form an important basis for municipal decision-makers in the coming years to support companies in their needs."

The large size of the sample and the differentiated analysis by location and sector mean that detailed results can be expected. Around 5,000 of the data records come from the European business database "Amadeus", while the five economic development agencies contributed a further 16,000 contacts. In total, the sample therefore covers up to 26 percent of Thuringian companies.

The participation of those affected is decisive for the informative value of the study: "The more businesspeople from the various sectors take part, the clearer the picture of the region becomes," says Björn Braunschweig, project manager at Friedrich Schiller University Jena." We are therefore inviting all companies from the region to take part in the survey," says Braunschweig.

In addition, all industry and business networks are also called upon to communicate the survey to their members. Companies and business people who have not yet received access data for the survey can contact the responsible business development agencies in the cities and districts directly or take part via the following link: https://t1p.de/Post-Corona.(link is external)

The survey takes around 15 minutes to complete and the data is collected completely anonymously. The project group expects the first results at the beginning of August 2021.