Tima Miroshnichenko
More than three quarters of Canadian CEOs (76 per cent) believe that global economic growth will decline over the next 12 months, according to PwC’s 26th Annual Global CEO Survey, which was released on Thursday.
The report, which polled 4,410 CEOs in 105 countries and territories in October and November 2022, said the bleak outlook is the most pessimistic CEOs have been regarding global economic growth in over a decade, and is a significant departure from the optimistic outlooks of previous years where a majority of the CEOs had thought economic growth would improve.
“CEOs have endured a lengthy period of crisis and threats that have impacted last year’s optimism. With inflation at levels that have not been seen in decades, macroeconomic volatility, and geopolitical tensions to name a few factors, it’s no surprise that CEOs are predicting a decline in global growth over the next 12 months,” said Nicolas Marcoux, CEO PwC Canada. “In order to get beyond the short-term challenges, and excel in the longer-term, strategic transformation is going to be critical.”
Key survey findings:
- A significant number of both global CEOs (39 per cent) and Canadian respondents (25 per cent) believe that their company will no longer be economically viable a decade from now, if they continue on their current path. The result is a race for CEOs to reinvent their businesses, which many are planning to pursue through further investments in digital transformation initiatives like automation of processes and systems and deploying cloud, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies;
- Cybersecurity and data privacy are also high on the radar with almost half of the Canadian CEOs (49 per cent) planning investments in supply chain resilience to mitigate exposure to geopolitical conflict in the next 12 months. A collaborative approach from the top is vital, given that a critical aspect of cybersecurity improvements is through executive collaboration;
- Relatively few CEOs are considering hiring freezes and other actions negatively impacting the workforce this year. Only 18 per cent of Canadian CEOs (24 per cent globally) are considering hiring freezes in the next 12 months to mitigate against economic challenges and volatility. A vast majority – 85 per cent – indicate they do not plan to reduce staff remuneration in order to retain talent and mitigate workforce attrition rates, and 70% plan to focus on upskilling their workforce.
(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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