NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Similar to last year, cyber and health risks rank as the leading global threats, identified by 49 percent and 48 percent of CEOs, respectively, according to PwC’s 25th Annual Global CEO Survey, which polled 4,446 CEOs in 89 countries and territories between October and November 2021.
Not far behind is macroeconomic volatility, with 43 percent of CEOs either very or extremely concerned about the potential impact of inflation, fluctuations in GDP and labor market issues in the coming year.
Another major underlying concern is the ability to attract and retain talent — 69 percent of CEOs concerned about social inequality risks cite this as an impact, as do 62 percent of CEOs concerned about health risks.
From an industry perspective, cyber risks are top of mind for financial services CEOs, 59 percent of whom cited cyber as a key threat. Notably, manufacturing (40 percent) and consumer (39 percent) CEOs displayed lower concern levels about cyber, despite those sectors’ high volume of cyberattacks. It bears watching to see if this relative level of complacency reverses itself over the coming year.
Understandably, a high percentage of hospitality and leisure CEOs (75 percent) are concerned about the impact of health risks on their business; and 49 percent of energy, utility and resource CEOs see climate change as a key threat in the coming year, 15 points higher than the percentage across all industries.
Concern over the ability to attract and retain talent is strongly linked in CEOs’ minds with health risks and social inequality. Fifty-nine percent of insurance CEOs and 76 percent of hospitality CEOs think social inequality will inhibit their company’s ability to attract and retain key skills and talent over the next 12 months.
Bob Moritz, global chairman, PwC, concluded: “Through 25 years of the Global CEO Survey, we’ve seen CEOs tackle challenges from the bursting of the dot-com bubble to the global financial crisis.
“Today, new challenges with the global pandemic and climate change are testing CEOs like never before.
“Yet, no matter the issue or year, one constant we see is the fundamental importance of establishing trust. This year, trust appears linked to everything from CEOs’ confidence in growing revenues to whether their organization has made a net-zero commitment.
“Looking ahead, while there will certainly be unpredictable circumstances and challenges over the next 25 years, we believe companies built on a strong foundation of trust will be fortified and their CEOs best positioned to deliver sustained outcomes that contribute to long-term success.”
For more details about the survey, visit https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-agenda/ceosurvey/2022.html.
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