In pics: Beauty salons struggle to survive, face uncertain future as customers stay away

SUMMARY

Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the beauty and salon industry is facing huge job losses, business erosion and an uncertain future.

By Timsy Jaipuria Aug 17, 2020 10:04:21 PM IST (Updated)

From by-lanes to fancy shopping malls, beauty salons have been one of the largest employment generators for women in the unorganised urban economy. Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector is facing huge job losses and business erosion.

Most beauty salons in large cities like Delhi, Noida and Gurugram are now working at 30-40 percent of their pre-COVID staff strength.

Surveys show that salon visits are among the top three activities that people have missed during the lockdown, which has led to professionals in the sector struggling to make ends meet. CNBC-TV18's Timsy Jaipuria headed out to find out how the industry is looking to attract customers and revive business.

Ashmeet Kaur, Senior Manager at Toni & Guy Salon, Noida said: “We have reduced our staff by 30 percent as footfalls are less compared to pre-COVID levels. We are trying our best and are ensuring that we employ these professionals as soon as footfalls return.”

Divya Parchani, Marketing Manager India at Geetanjali Salong lamented, “At Geetanjali salons, we are coping up with the situation by controlling our costs and with all precautions in place. We are utilizing our resources to the best ability and hope that normalcy will return soon to the sector as we are gradually seeing an increase of the footfalls.”

Hair therapist, Laxmi, who works at Toni & Guy said: "Unlike others, who managed to shift to the online space to continue with their work, our industry could not do anything on those lines. as the lockdown continued. Some of my friends in the industry have returned home and some have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.”

Nonetheless, the skilled workforce representing India’s beauty and hair industry is now struggling to find an alternate source of income. In fact, most have lost hope as jobs have dried up across the board.

Another Hair stylist, Umesh Verma highlighted, "It is tough for anyone to switch profession after spending 10-15 years in this industry. So stylists are still hoping that work returns to pre-COVID levels soon.”

While service professionals are managing to live by reducing their monthly budgets, they are looking forward for customers to return soon, as the economy opens up.

However, with numerous customer not looking to return just as yet to salons, given that there is the need for physical contact, the industry is staring at an uncertain future, given that a salon cannot go digital.