We had almost 40 people respond to the announcement last week in the Lidar News eNewsletter of an online survey regarding the impact of Covid-19 on the AEC marketplace. That was low in my opinion, but based on my experience (which does not include any training in statistical analysis) I have found that initial survey results tend to be a pretty good indicator of the trends of a much larger population. In any case, this is what was reported.
Beginning with the size of the organization the distribution was pretty much equal from less than 5 to more than 500. Each group had about 20%. The vast majority, 70% were from the private sector.
In terms of type of expertise, surveying and mapping was the leader with 60%, followed by design/BIM and 3D reality capture in the field at 40% +.
On the business front the results were concerning with more than 20% of the backlog from the first of the year being delayed at 35% of the firms. Looking forward, 45% indicated that more than 20% of additional backlog was at risk.
Regarding layoffs the news was somewhat better with 60% indicating that their org had not begun, nor were they planning furloughs or layoffs.
Nearly 70% see the government stimulus being of either medium or high importance. Just over 70% of work is being done from home which is pretty amazing.
In terms of the value of online resources, online meetings, enewsletters and educational webinars ranked one, two and three, in that order. I hope this encourages the vendors to think less about product marketing and more about education.
For the complete survey results CLICK HERE.
The Covid-19 virus is certainly causing tremendous pain, but together we will get through this.
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