In KPMG's CEO Outlook 2024 research, I asked the CEOs of more than 1,300 companies with annual sales of at least $500 million in the world's most important markets about how they view their companies' business and economic prospects in the next three years and the trends that define them. . The most important findings of the research are: A Human Resources Portal It is described based on the article
As in recent years, corporate managers are optimistic about the growth prospects of the global economy and their company this year as well. 72% of participants expressed their optimism about the growth of the global economy during the next three years, while 92% expressed their optimism about the expansion of their companies in this period.
It is increasingly difficult to ensure prosperity
According to executives, securing growth is now more difficult than before, because recession fears are expressed from time to time in the United States, Europe is showing signs of decline in many industries, and growth in China has become two-sided. According to 72% of respondents, it is increasingly difficult to ensure the long-term prosperity of your company. In addition to external pressures, internal challenges such as additional training of the workforce and hybrid working make the work of managers very difficult.
Among the risks, global corporate leaders now place supply chain infections and vulnerabilities in first place, operational issues in second place, and cybersecurity in third place. In fourth place, most people mentioned geopolitical risks.
According to KPMG CEO 2024 forecast
64% of company managers considered artificial intelligence to be the most important investment this year.
Interestingly, this investment, according to 63% of them, will pay off in the medium term at most, within the next three to five years. The biggest benefits of AI have been seen in increased efficiency and productivity, improved workforce readiness, and increased organizational innovation. However, according to managers, the rapid introduction of new technologies also entails risks. 61% of them believe that ethical challenges are the most difficult to deal with. Organizational problems (50 percent) and lack of technical skills and capabilities (48 percent) were identified as risks.
More than three-quarters of company managers believe that AI will not fundamentally impact the number of jobs in the company.
Back to the office
According to forecasts of company managers, the proportion of people working from home will continue to decline. 83 percent of those surveyed believe that within the next three years, employees will fully return to their offices, and 87 percent of them believe that they will be able to achieve this through interesting tasks, salary increases or promotions. The research claims that the older a company manager is, the more he or she will prioritize office work: 75% of managers under 49 believe the home office will decline, while 83% of those over 60 are sure about it. It is characteristic that a much higher percentage of male managers consider this to be true and expect to return to office work compared to female managers.
(Cover photo: Kitty Columban/Index)
