According to PwC’s annual CEO survey, 82% of global chief executives are concerned about the prospects for economic growth. Their concerns are likely to stem from the possible negative consequences of Brexit and the impact of possible protectionist policies pursued by president-elect Trump.
Three quarters of CEOs are indeed concerned about geopolitical uncertainty, though this figure is unchanged from 2016. Six in 10 of the 1379 global CEOs that responded to the survey worry about the impact of protectionism on their companies.
Despite these worries, a small majority of CEOs is expected to hire extra staff. Chief executives in the asset management sector, who expect a boost to GDP growth in 2017, are most bullish: two thirds of them expect to increase headcount. By contrast, only 16% of CEOs plan to reduce their overall employee base.
