A new survey by the professional services firm KPMG shows that CEOs around the world are expecting a recession in the next 12 months. More than half of the business leaders polled think the slowdown will be “mild and short.”
Most of the 1,300 CEOs polled by KPMG between July and August said, however, that their businesses might find it hard to recover from the pandemic if there were more disruptions, like a recession.
Still, the CEOs were more hopeful than they were at the beginning of the year, and they said they expected growth in the next three years.
Globally, CEOs are also positive about mergers, acquisitions, and innovation, but many are worried that dealmakers are “taking a much sharper pencil to the numbers and focusing on value creation to unlock and track deal value,” according to a KPMG report.
Business leaders worry about pandemic fatigue
KPMG said that CEOs around the world are also worried about pandemic fatigue, in addition to recession and the effects of rising interest rates on the economy.
On top of immediate problems like a recession, business leaders say they are still under pressure to meet their broader social responsibilities because the public is looking closely at their corporate purpose and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibilities.
With the economy still in bad shape, there are signs that the Great Resignation may be slowing down. For example, 39% of CEOs have already put a freeze on hiring, and 46% are thinking about laying off workers in the next 6 months. But the outlook for the next three years is more positive, with only 9 percent expecting a further drop in the number of employees.
CEOs are still putting a high priority on digital transformation, even though there is a lot of uncertainty right now. However, 40% of businesses have put their digital transformation plans on hold, and another 37% plan to do the same in the next 6 months.
Over a three-year period, more than a quarter of respondents think that advancing digitalization and business connectivity is also important to meeting growth goals. Seventy-four percent also agree that their company’s strategic investments in digital and ESG are inextricably linked.
