In addition to the health crisis, the economic impact of the pandemic is strongly felt around the world. As entrepreneurs and governments work to protect jobs and accelerate a return to long-term prosperity, it is clear that digital tools and skills will become more important than ever. The use of technology can accelerate economic recovery. Therefore, over the past 7 months, Google has introduced several products and provided training and financial support to help businesses and individuals.
During the pandemic, 81% of Dutch SMEs increased their use of digital tools. In doing so, the more digitally advanced companies were found to achieve 1.4 times more sales than the more reluctant SMEs and were 5.2 times more likely to hire new employees. This is evident from research by trade organization Connected Commerce Council, funded by Google, among 5,000 European SMEs, including 150 in the Netherlands.
