73% of CEOs expect global economic growth to decline in next 12 months, says survey

In the most pessimistic outlook in more than a decade, a global survey of CEOs showed 73 percent of them expecting the global economic growth to decline over the next 12 months.

Releasing the annual survey on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting here on Monday, PwC said this is a significant departure from the optimistic outlook of 2021 and 2022 when more than two-thirds thought economic growth would improve.

This is the most pessimistic CEOs have been regarding global economic growth since PwC began asking this question 12 years ago.

The survey further showed that nearly 40 percent of CEOs do not believe their organisations would be economically viable in 10 years if they do not transform.

Inflation, macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical conflict ranked as the top global threats while cyber and health risks fell from a year ago.

The survey also showed that companies are cutting costs but do not plan yet to reduce headcount or salaries in their fight to retain talent following the 'great resignation'.

Leaders in France, Germany and the UK were found to be less optimistic about domestic growth than the global growth compared to those in the US, Brazil, India and China.

The 26th annual survey was conducted among 4,410 CEOs from 105 countries and territories, including 68 CEOs from India, between October and November 2022.

With a decline in hiring due to the drying up of funding following geopolitical scenarios, Indian start-ups also continued to struggle with the retention of talent during the 2022 calendar year, according to a study.

There has been a 44 percent decline in hiring in the startups during October-December 2022 compared with the January-March quarter, following 'funding winter' in the sector, CIEL HR Services monthly forecast study - Latest Employment Trends in Start-ups revealed on Monday.

The sector also witnessed a high level of attrition as start-up employees preferred stable jobs, higher pay and a better work-life balance, it noted.

According to the study, over 64 percent of the respondents wanted to shift jobs for a 'stable job', it stated.

Over 47 percent of the respondents said job security was a major concern, 27 percent wanted better to pay and 26 percent wanted to work in established firms, it added.

The study is based on the analysis of responses from 60,704 employees working in top 60 start-ups operating in India.

It further revealed that gender diversity in start-ups across levels is low, with an overall 24 percent women representation and a negligible 11 percent in leadership positions.

Lack of flexibility, shifting away from remote working and inadequate support for childcare and eldercare needs continued to be major hurdles for women to sustain and progress in the start-up ecosystem, it added.

“India continues to be the front-runner of the startup ecosystem despite the current threatening economic uncertainties. This downfall is only for a transient period, it will push the start-ups to be more serious in their overall operations and set new thresholds. In this context, we see startups preferring onsite work, with 94 percent of job openings looking for 'work from office'," CIEL HR Services Managing Director and CEO Aditya Narayan Mishra said.

Startups are on the lookout for highly productive and skilled talent that can adapt quickly to the changes and stay ahead of the curve, he added.

Talking about cities, the study revealed that Bengaluru continued to remain the hottest destination for start-up talent, with 31 percent of the job openings in this region.

Interestingly, Delhi/NCR is a very close second with 22 percent of the total job opportunities in startups, it stated. Out of the total job openings, tier I cities accounted for around 94 percent of the jobs, while tier II and III locations accounted for only 6 percent of the total employment opportunities, it added.