| | For the second quarter
in a row, executives'
overall confidence in
economic conditions has
risen, and hiring plans
are robust, especially
at the smallest
companies, according to
the latest McKinsey
Quarterly global
survey. Even so, the
overall economic outlook
six months out is
somewhat less positive.
As a whole, this
survey reflects a fairly
positive steady state.
More executives plan to
change the size of the
workforce over the next
six months than had
plans to change it six
months ago, with a
bigger bump in hiring:
44% now (compared with | |
|
| | 35% then) say they plan
to increase their
workforce, while 20%
(compared with 18%) say
they plan to decrease
it.
Notably, the smallest
companies in the survey
are the most
enthusiastic about
hiring: 53% of companies
with annual revenue
below $10m plan to hire,
versus 31% of companies
with $30bn or more in
revenues. These small
companies have become
increasingly likely to
hire over the past six
months. The differences
are even more striking
among the executives who
plan to decrease the
size of their workforce:
32% of those at the | |
|
| | largest companies plan
to do so, as opposed to
only 5% of those at the
smallest. What's more,
C-level executives
(CEOs, CFOs, and so
forth) are more
optimistic than other
executives are about
increasing the size of
the workforce.
Executives in Europe
are the most likely to
be planning a decrease:
a full quarter of them
say that they are. The
ongoing political
battles in Europe over
workers' rights and
social taxation are
likely to stem from the
same underlying economic
shifts that are causing
many European executives
to reduce the size of | |
|
| | the workforce.
Confidence among
executives in China
bounced back in the past
quarter. After a notable
drop in December 2005,
executives there are
once again as positive
as the global average
about the current
condition of their
industries, and their
confidence in the
country's economy has
also increased
dramatically. China is
the only country where
executives believe
conditions will be
better in six months,
either globally or in
their own country and
industries. At the
industry level, most
executives around the | |
|
| | world expect conditions
to remain at the same,
fairly positive level,
but broader economic
conditions are generally
expected to falter
slightly. Executives in
developed countries in
Asia and the Pacific
expect the biggest drop.
The McKinsey
Quarterly conducted the
survey in March 2006 and
received 3,470 responses
from a worldwide
representative sample of
business executives, 44%
of whom are CEOs or
other C-level
executives.
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