The world has turned around in twenty years

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conducted its annual Global CEO Survey for the 20th time. It revealed that in the last two decades not only the markets changed but also the opinion of CEOs on globalisation, the labour market, etc. The survey took place at the end of 2016 with the participation of 1,379 CEOs from 79 countries. Results were revealed at the World Economic Forum in Davos and show that CEOs are more optimistic than before, but they are still afraid of not having enough professionals, 82 percent still worry about economic insecurity and 80 percent are annoyed by overregulation. At world level 59 percent of CEOs think economic protectionism can cause problems. 29 percent of respondents said economic growth will speed up in 2017 (this ratio was 27 percent in 2016).

Bob Moritz, global chairman of PwC is of the opinion that CEOs are becoming more optimistic all over the world. The situation has improved in the UK and in the USA as well, despite the very negative forecast because of Brexit and Donald Trump becoming president. CEOs see major challenges in four areas: the digital world, HR and technology strategy, preserving the trust people have in their company and expanding the benefits of globalisation. As for the growth prospects of their own company, in comparison with 2016, CEOs are more optimistic in practically all key countries. The proportion of optimistic company heads doubled in India (71 percent) and Brazil (57 percent), in the USA 39 percent (up 6 percentage points) of CEOs had a positive attitude and in Germany 31 percent (up 3 percentage points) were hopeful about their company’s chances for growth.

CEOs think that from a growth perspective the most important countries are: 1. USA, 2. China, 3. Germany, 4. the UK, 5. Japan. 58 percent of CEOs reckon that it has become more difficult to deal with the effects of globalisation and economic protectionism. However, 76 percent of CEOs are of the opinion that globalisation has contributed to full and fair employment. CEOs think technology has an influence on the reputation of companies, the skills of employees, recruitment, competition and growth. 23 percent of CEOs shared the view that in the next five years technology will completely change the face of competition in their sector. 68 percent of company heads said that in the new, digital world it is more difficult to earn and retain people’s trust.

While back in 1998 only 31 percent of CEOs were worried about the skills of employees, by 2017 this proportion grew to 77 percent. Human capital is one of the top 3 priorities of companies. More than half of company heads plan to employ more people than in the previous year. As regards recruiting new workers, the most ambitious CEOs are in the UK (63 percent), China (60 percent), India (67 percent) and Canada (64 percent). In which sectors do they plan to hire? 64 percent in asset management, 64 percent in healthcare and 59 percent in technology. Nick Kós, CEO of PwC Hungary told about the Hungarian leg of the survey that more CEOs were asked than ever before. The data is still being processed, but it is already known that half of CEOS are very optimistic about the growth prospects of their company (the global average is only 38 percent). This year the survey concentrated on the conditions of long-term success and the results will be presented in the autumn.