Recession is Biggest Concern For CEOs in 2019: Survey

Top business executives (CEOs) across the world are concerned that the global economy may slide into recession this year, while many of them are wondering how to deal with the challenge of attracting and retaining talent.

“CEOs rank a recession as their number one external concern for 2019”, says The Conference Board in its latest research report on the health of global economy.

Large businesses are worried that the ongoing trade war between the United States and China could derail economies around the world. It is really surprising why the fear of recession is looming so large this year, because in the last year survey of the research group CEOs ranked recession their 19th concern.

This report is based on a survey of over 800 CEOs and over 600 other C-Suite executives, primarily from the United States, Asia, and Europe.

American businesses are not as worried about recession, with their main concern being how to attract and retain talent.

“As global competition increases while the pool of available workers decreases, it comes as no surprise that executives cited talent as a top issue in 2019 that’s keeping them up at night,” says Rebecca Ray, a report author and an executive vice president at The Conference Board. “Moreover, they think talent shortages will only intensify beyond 2019, which underscores why organizations should constantly reexamine how they’re attracting and retaining their best and brightest.”     

Other factors bothering business executives in America include finding new business models in the face of disruptive technology and protecting data from cyber thieves. They are of a belief that new technologies could render their existing business models obsolete.

“That awareness reinforces the need to continue the development of new business models, a strategy that will be tempting to neglect if and when the economy starts slowing,” says Bart van Ark, chief economist at the research group.

There is a consensus among business executives that they must put more emphasis on customer experience. “The customer of the future will place more value on the experience of using a product or service rather than the actual product or service,” the report added.