COVID-19 Impacts to Small Businesses in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Sector

PDF versionPDF version

cover of Data Brief 2020-014
Date updated: 2020-08-10
Data Brief 2020-014
Written and compiled by Leila Gonzales and Christopher Keane, AGI, August 2020

Download Print Version

To capture COVID-19 impacts to small businesses, the U.S. Census Bureau deployed the weekly Small Business Pulse Survey from April 26, 2020 to June 27, 2020. The survey spe­cifically targeted non-farm, single-location businesses with receipts greater than or equal to $1,000 and with less than 500 employees. The survey provides industry sector data about business operations, revenue, financial assistance, supply chain disruptions, and employee staffing. Although the data is aggregated at broad industry sector and sub-sector levels, it is useful to examine trends in COVID-19 impacts to small businesses within the professional, scientific, and technical services sector, a key sector in which geoscientists work. The survey’s data also provides a backdrop against which to compare the finer-resolution data from the AGI Geoscience COVID-19 study.

Throughout the study period, just over half of small busi­nesses within the professional, scientific, and technical services sector indicated moderate negative effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. The percentage of small businesses reporting large negative effects declined from 35% at the end of April to 25% the end of June, while those reporting little to no effect increased from 11% to 18% of businesses over the same period.

DB_2020-014 chart 01: Overall COVID-19 impacts to businesses (credit: AGI, data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau, Small Business Pulse Survey)

Financial assistance

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) were the most common sources from which financial assistance was requested by small businesses in this sector. Just over one-fifth of businesses did not request financial assistance from any sources since March 13th, and by the end of June, 28% of businesses had not received any financial assistance from federal programs.

DB_2020-014 chart 02: Sources of Requested Financial Aid (credit: AGI, data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau, Small Business Pulse Survey)

DB_2020-014 chart 03: Sources of Received Financial Aid (credit: AGI, data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau, Small Business Pulse Survey)

Financial health

Declines in operating revenues were reported by 70% of small businesses at the end of April 2020, and by just over 40% of businesses at the end of June; however, substantial declines in operating revenues and cash on hand were not apparent in the survey data. The percentage of businesses reporting one month or less of cash on hand decreased from one-third to one-fifth from the end of April through the end of June. Concurrently the percentage of businesses reporting three or more months of cash on hand increased from just 24% to 36% over the same period. The percentage of small businesses reporting $50,000 or less in monthly oper­ating revenues, sales, and receipts decreased from 49% of businesses in mid-May to 47% of businesses at the end of June. Furthermore, over 95% of businesses reported that they did not miss any loan payments and over 85% reported not missing any other scheduled payments over this period.

DB_2020-014 chart 04: Changes in Operating Revenues (credit: AGI, data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau, Small Business Pulse Survey)

Business operations

Interruptions to business operations were minimal across this industry. The percentage of businesses temporarily closing locations for at least one day per week declined from 32% at the end of April to 16% at the end of June. While staffing remained strong over this period with over 85% of businesses reporting no reduction in employee staffing, the percentage of businesses reporting no change in employee hours increased from 53% at the end of April to 74% at the end of June. In addition, the percentage of businesses reporting supply chain disruptions decreased from 28% to 16% over this period.

We will continue to provide current snapshots on the impacts of COVID-19 on the geoscience enterprise throughout the year. For more information, and to participate in the study, please visit: www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/covid19

Funding for this project is provided by the National Science Foundation (Award #2029570). The results and interpretation of the survey are the views of the American Geosciences Institute and not those of the National Science Foundation.

Related Geoscience Currents

Cover of DB-2022-009

State of select technical skills in academic programs and the workforce

November 18, 2022
In 2021 and 2022, the Geoscience COVID-19 Survey asked about the importance of and proficiency with select technical skills to working in the geoscience profession. In our previous data brief (DB-2022-008), we examined study participants’ views on the importance of these skills to the profession....
cover of DB-2022-008

Changes in perceived importance of select technical skills to the geoscience profession

August 22, 2022
In 2021 and 2022, we surveyed participants in the Geoscience COVID-19 Survey about their views on the importance of select technical skills to work­ing in the geoscience profession. Across participant cohorts, the skills rated most important to working in the geoscience profession were data...
cover of DB-2022-007

Geoscience Median Salaries Decline in 2021

June 27, 2022
Overall, geoscience median salaries declined by 2% between 2020 and 2021, lagging other science occupa­tions which increased by 4%, but not other engineering occupations which declined by 4%. The greatest increases in median salaries within the geosciences were geoscience civil engineers (+8%),...
cover of DB-2022-006

Responding to the Pandemic through Flexible Working Arrangements

June 17, 2022
Throughout the pandemic, work environments have shifted between virtual, in-person and hybrid scenarios. Remote-first work policies, which allow employees to choose their work location for any given day, have enabled workplaces to more quickly adapt to changing pandemic conditions. Furthermore,...
Cover image of DB-2022-005

COVID-19 Impacts Study: Employment Status of Recent Graduates

May 23, 2022
Of all participants in the Geoscience COVID-19 Impacts study, recent geoscience graduates have been the most vulnerable to employment disruptions during the pandemic. However, the study results indicate that the most recent geoscience graduates have either remained employed or gained employment...
Cover image of Data Brief 2022-004

Pandemic Impacts to Instructional Formats through March 2022

May 6, 2022
Lecture course instructional modes During the pandemic, courses, labs, and field activities have rapidly shifted between online, in-person and hybrid modes of instruction in response to pandemic conditions. With mask mandates easing in early 2022 as the impacts of the Omicron surge waned, there...