45% of Dutch companies have applied for coronavirus help

So far 45% of Dutch companies with at least two people on the books have applied for government help to stave off the impact of coronavirus, national statistics agency CBS said on Friday.

In total, 187,000 companies had some sort of support by the end of July and the hospitality industry, personal services (such as hairdressers) and the cultural and sports sector have made most claims for assistance.

Between them, the companies applying for help provide 2.6 million jobs.

Companies are covered by two main schemes – NOW, to help pay wages and TOGs, to help pay fixed costs. They can also ask for a delay in paying tax and loans.

The CBS figures show companies in Limburg were most likely to ask for help – with a 55% request rate. Amsterdam topped the number of applications on a city by city basis, also with 55%.

The figures also show that 181,000 jobs were lost at companies applying for support under the NOW scheme up to the end of June. Here, events and business services accounted for the bulk of the job losses.

To qualify for NOW support, firms were not allowed to cut the size of their workforces and the CBS says  the the jobs that have gone are likely to be freelance or short-term contracts.

By contrast, the support helped ensure the survival of 85% of jobs in the hospitality industry, the CBS said.