PwC CEO Survey reveals record levels of optimism

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PwC’s 24th Annual Global CEO Survey this year polled 5,050 CEOs in 100 countries and territories over January and February 2021. One year after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, CEOs are voicing record levels of optimism in the global economic recovery, with 76% of global business leaders predicting that economic growth will improve in 2021.


The percentage of CEOs expressing confidence in growth is up from 22% in 2020 and 42% in 2019, representing the highest level of optimism since the survey started asking this question in 2012.

Speaking about the Isle of Man, Ian Clague, Senior Partner at PwC Isle of Man, commented:

“The survey echoes many of the key themes laid out in the Isle of Man’s economic recovery strategy - to move towards a digital, green, safe Island. The survey identifies the need for significant investment by business in areas such as risk management, cybersecurity and digital transformation. Responses to a local poll we ran at the 2021 Manx State of the Nation conference last month showed there is a real opportunity to embrace transformational change in the compliance space helping to decrease costs while increasing efficiency. Alongside these areas more commitment is needed to fully embed climate change into business strategy; these are priorities which cannot be ignored.”

Bob Moritz, Chairman of the PwC Network said:


“After a year of human tragedy and extensive economic hardship, it is encouraging to see that the people responsible for making investment decisions and hiring staff are feeling cautiously optimistic about the year ahead. CEOs have faith that growth will return, boosted by the rapid development of vaccines and their rollout in many parts of the world,” 


“During the tumultuous past year, CEOs have had to rethink and reconfigure what they do and how they do it, while dealing with stretched balance sheets and supporting employees who have been forced to navigate these extraordinary circumstances.

“CEOs now face two fundamental challenges: first, how to build trust with a broad range of stakeholders, whose expectations of business are higher than ever before; and second, how to adapt their businesses and deliver sustained outcomes in a rapidly changing external environment. Organisations that get this right will be best placed to come out of the pandemic as strong, resilient and productive businesses, able to withstand future shocks.”

 

Click here to download the report.

 

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