After months of displaying a distinct lack of enthusiasm about hiring, some 45 percent of American CEOs polled in a survey say they intend to expand their workforces in 2004.
More than 300 CEOs and C-level readers also indicated that their overall confidence has reached the highest point since Chief Executive magazine began polling them via email in October 2002. CEO Confidence, which was set at 100 last October, has reached 141.6, after touching a low of 78 (CK) in April.
But the most important finding of survey for America's unemployed is that 45 percent of CEOs said they intended to hire in 2004 vs. only 10 percent who said they planned to reduce the number of employees. Another 45 percent of respondents said they would hold employment at current levels.
"The fact that more than four times as many CEOs expect to be hiring than firing is obviously significant," said Chief Executive Group CEO Edward M. Kopko. "We've been talking for many months about the 'jobless recovery' but it seems that could be changing."
Although a precise statistical breakout isn't possible, a majority of respondents appeared to come from the smaller and medium-sized business segment. Unlike the CEOs of larger companies, they appear to be resisting the trend toward outsourcing of information technology or business processes to other countries. "It is always my intention to do everything possible to keep domestic suppliers," one CEO, John Rinaldi of Arquest, is quoted as saying.
The magazine's latest findings also suggest that there is a lag effect between when its CEO Employment Confidence indicator rebounds and hiring attitudes change. CEO Employment confidence is one component of the broader CEO Confidence Index. "Two months after CEO attitudes bottomed out in April, we saw a turn in the overall unemployment rate," says the magazine's editor-in-chief, William J. Holstein. "Since this CEO Confidence Index is slightly skewed toward smaller and medium-sized CEOs, it's a much better employment indicator than some other measures of CEO attitudes."
The Index is released on the third Tuesday of each month. For additional information regarding the confidence of public- and private-company CEOs, details about regional CEO attitudes on employment, investment and business conditions, as well as confidence differences between service and non-service industry CEOs, visit our full report at http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ceoindex.
Chief Executive is a controlled circulation magazine that reaches 42,000 chief executive officers and their peers. It is published 10 times a year and reaches a total readership of 143,000. Chief Executive Group facilitates "Chief Executive of the Year," a prestigious honor bestowed upon an outstanding corporate leader, nominated and selected by a group of his or her peers. Jack Welch, Bill Gates, John Chambers, Michael Dell and Sandy Weill are just some of the leaders who have been honored throughout the award's 17-year history. Chief Executive also organizes roundtable meetings and conferences to foster opportunities for top corporate officers to discuss key subjects and share their experiences within a community of peers. Visit www.chiefexecutive.net for more information.
Email This Page!