"The Prime Minister's warning of the likelihood of a prolonged period of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis is a timely warning that we are not yet out of the woods. If past experience is any guide, we are at risk of a multi-year period of high unemployment with particularly severe impacts on young people. It will take several years for many businesses just to regain lost ground while some will not survive," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group, said today.