The pandemic has been tragic for Italy on many different levels. One of these concerns the challenges faced by Italian businesses. Some may think that only small business have been strongly affected by the crisis, closing down and leaving employees out of work.

In fact, many businesses of all sizes have suffered, with Istat, the Italian statistics office, reporting that over 68% of Italian businesses have made a loss compared to 2019 — and 17,000 businesses likely to be closed forever. According to a study among businesses in March-April 2020, most enterprises expressed serious pessimism.