Almost three-quarters of CEOs worldwide and also in Austria expect a recession this year. In Austria, 72 percent of decision-makers in large companies expect an economic downturn, which is more than in the corona crisis year 2020 when 68 percent. This is evident from the Global CEO Survey by economic adviser PwC, in which 4,400 top managers in 105 countries were interviewed. In Austria, 32 CEOs participated in the survey in October and November.
“Companies’ resilience is being tested in times of high energy prices and inflation,” said Rudolf Krickl, CEO of PwC Austria. Almost every fifth decision-maker (19 percent) in Austria fears that their own company will no longer be viable in ten years’ time if it continues on its current course – worldwide that is 40 percent.
Confidence in their own profitability has also fallen since last year (minus 14 percent): the majority (57 percent) of Austrian CEOs are not sure whether their company will achieve sales growth in the next twelve months.
Inflation is the biggest concern in this country
While last year cyber and health risks were considered the biggest threats to companies, this year the focus is on the effects of the economic downturn. Inflation (38 percent), macroeconomic volatility (38 percent) and cyber threats (22 percent) are the top concerns for Austrian executives. Climate change is ascribed a lower potential threat: only 19 percent of Austrian CEOs (14 percent globally) admit crisis as one of the top concerns for 2023.
Climate crisis for companies long-term problem
In the long term, however, risk awareness seems to be changing: in the next five years, the climate crisis will be the second biggest threat for 28 percent of Austrian executives. The fear of further pandemics is disappearing: no executive in this country sees themselves exposed to health risks in the next 12 months. Last year, 48 percent in Austria rated this risk as high.
Looking at the longer term – looking at the next 10 years – all domestic CEOs (100 percent) agree that skills shortages will have the biggest impact on profitability in their respective industries. Globally, this is only the third biggest concern. Regulatory changes (88 percent), changing customer needs (82 percent) and supply chain disruptions (73 percent) are also ranked as the top influencing factors.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
