Despite a slight dip, signs of resilience remain in The Conference Board’s Measure of CEO Confidence. After an encouraging first quarter improvement, the second quarter results still reflect pessimism among CEOs, but with a lower-than-expected reduction in the measure, it appears they’re prepared for a short and shallow recession.
93% of CEOs surveyed for the report anticipate a recession in the US over the next 12-18 months, while 87% believe it will be brief and shallow with limited global spillovers. Furthermore, 33% of CEOs expect to expand their workforce over the next 12 months, while only 20% anticipate a net reduction in employees.
The Conference Board’s chief economist, Dana Peterson, comments: “After improving sharply to start the year, CEO confidence ticked down slightly in Q2 and remains firmly in negative territory. Meanwhile, future expectations deteriorated in Q2 and 56% of CEOs expect general economic conditions to worsen over the next six months.”
Although a gloomy outlook, these results suggest that CEOs are determined to continue with their strategies despite the challenging economic landscape. With the expectation of a brief recession and workforce plans still on the cards, the second quarter reports from The Conference Board are a positive sign of
