The year 2020 will be a year that most of us would like to forget, it was not an easy year, a busy year, a global epidemic, the collapsing economy, the airport that was closed, severe unemployment, and our lives that changed from end to end.
The corona epidemic affected the economy in a variety of aspects. The epidemic led to a severe global recession and change in various economic fields. The economic situation was affected by the situation of dealing with the epidemic and at the same time affected the way of dealing with it.
The closing of the industries is fading and the closing of the construction industry was also on the agenda, which meant a complete shutdown. As part of discussions, the possibility of excluding part of the industry came up. But it was decided that the construction industry goes into emergency mode. This is an industry where the risk is high. According to the Treasury’s decision, the workforce that will be allowed to work will be reduced by 70%. One of the industries defined as essential is the construction industry.
The total number of construction starts in the first half of 2020 amounted to approximately 22,750, a decrease of approximately 11% compared to the corresponding half last year. The decrease occurred during the second quarter, which amounted to only 9,450 starts, a decrease of 27% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. These are significantly lower construction volumes compared to the construction volumes in the last decade, although in the first quarter the total number of starts was relatively high compared to the same quarter in the previous two years.
In the second quarter, there was a significant decrease in the employment of workers in the construction industry, and it is likely that the main generator of the decrease in the activity of the industry is a partial shutdown of the construction workers in the wet trades.
But on the other hand, some argue that the corona did not affect the beginnings of construction and they worked even better. Construction increased and the corona did not affect the results, it is, among other things, companies that supply concrete equipment, molds for concrete castings, from the skeleton stage to the finishing stage for the construction of residential, commercial, office buildings, etc.
The shutdown hit the state’s tax revenues from the construction industry in September, but in an annual summary of the amounts received from the industry, it appears that it was almost unaffected by the epidemic, and even increased its revenues and profits in the periods between the shutdowns – according to a review published by the Tax Authority.
