Czech companies hard hit by crisis

As many as 41 percent of Czech companies have had to dismiss employees owing to the current economic crisis, according to a poll carried out by the Czech Business Chamber. More than one fifth of companies said they would have to consider winding up business unless the situation improved in the very near future. Almost 18 percent of firms said they had seen a decline in orders in a year-on-year comparison. Eight percent of companies have frozen their employees' wages, six percent have problems obtaining operating loans from banks and five percent have had to cut working hours temporarily.