How barbers are trying to sustain their businesses during lockdown

Eighteen-year-old Sam is a commerce student who works at a barber’s in Gulistan-e-Jauhar’s Block-12 to make ends meet. Ever since the COVID-19 lockdown, he has not only lost his daily wages but can hardly afford to pay his college fees.

He told The News that before the lockdown, he usually earned between Rs1,200 and Rs1,500 on a daily basis. “Thankfully, I have enough clients of my own who call me for home service now.”

He pointed out that although he does not earn as much as he used to, “it’s better than earning nothing at all”. Not only do his regular clients call him but his employer also directs him to those who contact the salon.

“For the clients I get from the salon, I pay a percentage to the shop,” he said. However, when asked about the safety precautions, he lamented that neither he nor his employer has the means to adopt them.

“I can’t purchase the mask required to control the spread of the virus,” he admitted, saying that one can either take precautions or cut hairs. While different professions and businesses are suffering because of the preventive lockdown due to the pandemic, barbers are also on the verge of losing everything.

The hairdressers think if they are not allowed to operate their businesses in the last 10 days of Ramazan, they may be unable to recover from their extreme economic crisis. Hairdressers & Beauticians Welfare Association chief Ejaz Romero told The News that they are extremely worried about their businesses. Romero’s own salon is located on Shaheed-e-Millat Road.

“There are daily-wagers in our shops and we can pay them to a certain extent without operating our businesses,” he said, adding that hairdressers who own their shops will be unable to pay salaries or wages to their staff members beyond a month.

He pointed out that the hairdressers not only have to pay salaries but also their shops’ rents and all the other expenses that are required to run their businesses. He also pointed out that the hairdressers’ earnings in the last 10 days of Ramazan match those of more than three months. “If we aren’t allowed to operate right now, those running their shops on rent will have to completely shut down their businesses.”

He said they are a service sector, so they can earn only if they work, adding that to pay their shops’ rents and other expenses, they have to be allowed to continue operating following the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Not being allowed to do so, he lamented, barbers have been providing home services on their own, which he said is a far more alarming situation.

He explained that if they are allowed to operate their businesses, they would know if any of the barbers has any COVID-19 symptoms by checking their body temperature on a daily basis.

“What if a barber with any of the symptoms ends up providing their services at someone’s home?” he asked, saying that they care about their clients more than anything else. He said the government can take action against the shops violating the SOPs.

The SOPs

The welfare association, which Romero said has been serving old and retired barbers for the past four decades, held a news conference at the Karachi Press Club this past Saturday to share the SOPs he himself has drafted.

Sharing a video to demonstrate the SOPs, he explained that the barber will wear a surgical gown, gloves and a surgical mask, and then wear a face shield.

He said they will ensure the barber does not touch the skin of their client and makes them wear a neck roll and apron that will be disposed of after the service in front of the client.

Romero said the client will also wear gloves and a face mask, adding that a transparent plastic face shield will cover the client’s eyes and nose. As for the hair dropping on the apron or on the face of the client, he said a blow dryer will be used to remove them. All the safety items will cost around Rs800, while the client will be charged an additional Rs200 for the service.

‘Not affordable’

Talking about these SOPs, Sam laughed and said if he or his employer ended up buying all these protection items, they would have to charge every client Rs1,000 for a haircut. “Clients in our area don’t pay that much.”

Another hairdresser in North Karachi’s Nagan Chowrangi area said how he has already been operating his salon in the basement of his shop. “My clients call me to make an appointment. This way, there’s no rush at my shop at any time.”

When asked about the SOPs, he said he gives a new apron to those who are very scared and discards it in front of them, “but their charges are Rs1,500 for a haircut and shave”. Romero’s SOPs do not sit well even with showbiz star Shabbir Jan, who runs his two big salons in the Defence Housing Authority and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

He told The News that if every barber starts wearing gowns and safety shields, imagine how much they would have to charge their clients. “These items are for doctors, not hairdressers,” he said, adding that the government should allow them to operate under simple SOPs like all the other businesses.

“We won’t let anyone enter the salon with a high body temperature or a cough,” he said, adding that they would disinfect the seat after every service and ensure that the client and the hairdresser wear masks.

Jan’s two salons have many employees. “We are helping them as much as we can,” he said, adding that they would incur losses of millions of rupees if they are not allowed to operate in the last 10 days of Ramazan. “That is the peak of our season.”

Pakistan Medical Association General Secretary Dr Qaiser Sajjad did not outrightly oppose the idea of allowing barbers to reopen their shops. He said that as doctors, they have already informed how the virus is spreading rapidly, due to which the number of deaths is also increasing.

“We have asked that people observe complete social distancing and stay at home,” he said, adding that if the government thinks opening businesses is an option, they must ensure that the virus does not spread.