Welcome to the Business Trends and Outlook Survey
Content V3 for Cycle 2
Revised 8/16/2024
The U.S. Census Bureau is requesting your assistance to produce important data on current economic conditions, as well as the impact on our nation’s economy when natural disasters or other emergencies occur.
Your response is especially important as it helps policy makers, government officials, and businesses like yours understand these effects. Please complete this quick survey; it will take approximately 20 minutes.
The data you provide will be aggregated to create a two-week snapshot of economic activity within the U.S. This survey is not intended to replace more comprehensive surveys that typically require the use of company records.
Estimates are acceptable and encouraged.
The survey will take approximately 20 minutes.
Please include all domestic operations of this consolidated business, including all locations, subsidiaries, and divisions.
For this survey, please provide data for: [Name 1] [Name 2]
FOR SINGLE UNITS ONLY Is the Employer Identification Number (EIN) used on this business’s latest Internal Revenue Service Form 941, Employer's Federal Quarterly Tax Return?
Yes
No
If no, please provide EIN:
Overall, how would you describe this business’s current performance? Please include all domestic operations of this consolidated business, including all locations, subsidiaries, and divisions.
Excellent
Above average
Average
Below average
Poor
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did this business’s operating revenues/sales/receipts change? Please compare this two-week period to the two weeks prior. Estimates are acceptable.
Increased
Decreased
No change
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did this business’s number of paid employees change?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the total number of hours worked by this business’s paid employees change?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Between MM DD - MM DD, did this business have any paid employees who worked from home for at least one workday? A workday is 6 or more hours.
Yes
No
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, did this business use Artificial Intelligence (AI)1 in producing goods or services? (Examples of AI: machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, voice recognition, etc.)
Yes
No
Do not know
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, did this business do any of the following?
Select all that apply.
Open a new location
Open a previously closed location
Temporarily close a location
Permanently close a location
None of the above
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the time it takes for this business to receive deliveries from suppliers change?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Not applicable
How would you describe this business’s current inventories?
Larger than optimal
Optimal
Smaller than optimal
Not applicable
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did demand for this business’s goods or services change?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the prices this business charges for its own goods or services change?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the prices this business pays for goods or services change?
Increased
Decreased
No change
In the last six months, in what ways did changes to interest rates negatively impact this business? Select all that apply.
Decreased profitability
Inability to service debt
Inability to refinance existing loans
Inability to invest in this business
Not applicable
In the last six months, did this business experience any monetary losses due to an extreme weather event (for example, hurricane, flood, drought, or heat wave)?
Yes
No
What type of extreme weather event caused the monetary losses? Select all that apply.
Wildfire
Earthquake
Hurricane
Tornado
Flood
Drought
High winds
Severe storm/hail
Snow/blizzard/ice
Extreme temperature (heat or cold)
Other (please describe ___________)
Six months from now, how do you think you will describe this business’s performance?
Excellent
Above average
Average
Below average
Poor
Six months from now, how do you think this business’s number of paid employees will have changed?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Six months from now, how do you think the total number of hours worked by this business’s paid employees will have changed?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Six months from now, how do you think the time it takes for this business to receive deliveries from suppliers will have changed?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Not applicable
Six months from now, how do you think you will describe this business’s inventories?
Larger than optimal
Optimal
Smaller than optimal
Not applicable
Six months from now, how do you think demand for this business’s goods or services will have changed?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Six months from now, how do you think the prices this business charges for its own goods or services will have changed?
Increased
Decreased
No change
Six months from now, how do you think the prices this business pays for goods or services will have changed?
Increased
Decreased
No change
During the next six months, do you think this business will do any of the following?
Select all that apply.
Open a new location
Open a previously closed location
Temporarily close a location
Permanently close a location
None of the above
During the next six months, do you think this business will be using Artificial Intelligence (AI)2 in producing goods or services? (Examples of AI: machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, voice recognition, etc.)
Yes
No
Do not know
Approximately what percentage of this business’s paid employees currently work from home any of their workdays? A workday is 6 or more hours. Total must equal 100% of paid employees. Estimates are acceptable.
_____ % never work from home
_____ % work from home occasionally
_____ % work from home 1 day per week
_____ % work from home 2 days per week
_____ % work from home 3 days per week
_____ % work from home 4 days per week
_____ % work from home 5 or more days per week
____
100% paid employees
Do not know/Not applicable
Five years ago (in 2019), approximately what percentage of this business’s paid employees worked from home any of their workdays? A workday is 6 or more hours. Total must equal 100% of paid employees. Estimates are acceptable.
____% never worked from home
____% occasionally worked from home
____% worked from home 1 day per week
____% worked from home 2 days per week
____% worked from home 3 days per week
____% worked from home 4 days per week
____% worked from home 5 or more days per week
____
100% paid employees
Do not know/Not applicable
Looking forward to five years from now (in 2029), approximately what percentage of this business’s paid employees do you think will work from home any of their workdays? A workday is 6 or more hours. Total must equal 100% of paid employees. Estimates are acceptable.
____% will never work from home
____% will occasionally work from home
____% will work from home 1 day per week
____% will work from home 2 days per week
____% will work from home 3 days per week
____% will work from home 4 days per week
____% will work from home 5 or more days per week
____
100% paid employees
Do not know/Not applicable
Does this business pay its fully remote employees based partly on the cost of living where they live (locality pay)?
Yes
No
Do not know/ Not applicable
What factors limit the ability of this business’s paid employees to work from home? Select all that apply.
Parts or all of the job cannot be performed from home
Management of employees working from home too costly/complicated
Efficiency/productivity concerns
Challenges around mentoring/learning or teamwork/socialization
Legal/regulatory/tax reasons
Security concerns (IT or other)
Other (please describe ___________)
No factors limit work from home
Does this business have a work from home policy with any minimum in-person (onsite) requirements?
Yes
No
How does this business track whether paid employees meet the minimum in-person (onsite) requirements? Select all that apply.
Badge swipe or sign-in sheet
Attendance at in-person meetings
Manager checks
Other (please describe___________)
This business does not track whether in-person (onsite) requirements are met
How does this business monitor the activity of paid employees working from home? Select all that apply.
Computer activity
Attendance/participation in online meetings
Specific measures of output (for example, number of customers served or calls answered, sales, units produced, etc.)
Other (please describe ___________)
This business does not monitor paid employees working from home
How does this business monitor the activity of paid employees working in-person (onsite)? Select all that apply.
Arrival/departure times
Computer activity
Attendance/participation in meetings
Specific measures of output (for example, number of customers served or calls answered, sales, units produced, etc.)
Other (please describe ___________)
This business does not monitor paid employees working in-person (onsite)
Has this business observed differences in productivity for paid employees based on whether they are working from home or in-person (onsite)?
Yes, work from home more productive
Yes, in-person (onsite) more productive
No observed differences in productivity
Do not know/Not applicable
Would you like to provide any information about your responses to these questions or this business?
Remarks (500 characters)
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For future Business Trends and Outlook Survey requests, please provide your preferred contact information:
Contact name:
Contact title:
Email:
This collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The eight-digit OMB approval number is 0607-1022 and appears in the lower left corner of each reporting screen. Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey.
Authority and Confidentiality
Title 13, United States Code, Sections 131 and 182, authorizes the U.S. Census Bureau to conduct this collection and to request your voluntary assistance. The Census Bureau is required by Section 9 of the same law to keep your information confidential and use your responses only to produce statistics. The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit your data.
Burden Estimate Statement
We estimate the Business Trends and Outlook Survey will take an average of 9 minutes to complete. Factors such as company size, complexity and activity will affect your actual time to complete the survey. This estimate includes the time to review instructions, search existing data sources, gather and maintain the data needed, and complete and review the survey.
You may email comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: econ.btos@census.gov. Be sure to use “EID Survey Comments 0607-1022” as the subject.
1 (Added 10/23/23) AI Definition: Computer systems and software that are able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as decision-making, visual perception, speech recognition, and language processing.
Types or applications of AI include machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, predictive analytics, machine vision, voice recognition, decision making systems, data analytics, image processing, etc.
2 (Added 10/23/23) AI Definition: Computer systems and software that are able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as decision-making, visual perception, speech recognition, and language processing.
Types or applications of AI include machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, predictive analytics, machine vision, voice recognition, decision making systems, data analytics, image processing, etc.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Kathryn Bonney (CENSUS/EID FED) |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2024-09-06 |