"We do anticipate that within the next 3-6 months following the initial lockdown, which commenced on the 27th of March, we do anticipate that as the restrictions are eased and companies weigh up the costs of resuming operations then there will probably be a spike in the number of applications.

At the moment the CCMA is only accepting electronic referrals so companies requiring large scale retrenchments, those could still be sent to the CCMA but we haven't seen an increase compared to the past couple of months but we do expect this to increase", said Docrat.

He says COVID-19 will have an impact on many sectors and industries across the country.

"This will probably cut across many sectors or industries, more importantly, hospitality and tourism, which is expected to have an increase in the number of applications at the CCMA.

Then probably your secondary manufacturing service providers as well, the CSA and Comair have also come through, and Cell C," he added.

National Treasury says the impact of the pandemic on economic contraction can be anything between 5% to 12% for 2020.

In its worst-case scenario of a slow economic recovery, Treasury says more than 7 million people could lose their jobs as a result of COVID-19.

A quick recovery will still see 3 million job losses.

eNCA