The economy is opening back up and confidence is rising among CEOs of small to medium-sized businesses. After surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, you could only figure that it's "only up from here", right?
During the virtual Vistage Executive Summit in Ohio last week, we were shown some interesting figures of surveys from a group of CEOs and it made us instantly think to look back on the similar surveys from Q1 of 2021. The results? Well, it seems that things are looking up!
The Q2 survey results from the Vistage CEO Confidence Index show major increases across the board, compared to Q1. 76% of CEOs said that they feel the economy has recently improved, which is a staggering 36 point jump from only 40% in Q1 of 2021 and the 8% in Q4 of 2020. It was a good sign that so early in the year, CEOs were already starting to feel that updraft in the economy, and an even better sign that at the end of Q2, the amount of CEOs has increased so significantly. It is suspected that this ramp-up is due to lifting regulations and mandates within states and the world is "opening back up". However, only 54% of the surveyed CEOs expect the national economy to continue to improve in the year ahead. This is a 14-point decline from last quarter. These results can be influenced by current supply chain bottlenecks and the challenges involved with acquiring and retaining the necessary workforce.
53% of CEOs expect to increase their investments in the year ahead, which is a 4-point increase over Q1 of 2021. That, coupled with the fact that 71% of CEOs surveyed expect to expand their workforces in the next 12 months is a great sign, but can be difficult with the nationwide struggle of acquiring those necessary workforces.
If you are within the 78% of CEOs that are expecting an increased revenue over the next 12 months, now is the time to make sure that you know you have what you need to handle the continued growth. Reach out to see how AccountingDepartment.com can help and prepare you for this growth in 2021 and the years coming!
