The Croatian Employers Association (HUP) said on Tuesday it was satisfied with the redesigned measures to help the economy but warned that labour was not the only operating cost, that liquidity remained a serious problem for many and that even a revenue drop of less than 40% could be fatal, notably for SMEs.

We hope the redesign will make it possible to keep many jobs and prevent closures, which is in the interest of all employers and should be kept in mind when adopting epidemiological measures, HUP said in a press release.

It added that besides a fall in revenue, employers had higher costs for raw materials and parts, logistics and transport as well as health prevention.

For recovery in 2021 to be as easy and swift as possible, it is necessary to reduce or abolish parafiscal levies and to simplify the administrative burden, HUP said.

HUP has polled its members from the manufacturing industry and they expect 2021 to bring only a mild recovery, the shorter working week to continue and favourable funds to be ensured for liquidity and investment.

Employers say the three biggest problems at the moment are a lack of new contracts and orders, lateness in the delivery of raw materials, and liquidity.

Despite the crisis, only 2.7% of workers in the manufacturing industry have been laid off due to lack of work. HUP said this showed that even in times of crisis, employers’ first reaction was not to lay off workers and that the job retention measures adopted in the spring were timely.