In fact, they haven't been this optimistic in at least nine years.
Good morning.
The global pandemic turns one year old today, and while many bad things happened during that year, some good things happened as well. Here’s one: A PwC survey of 5,000 CEOs around the world, out fresh this morning, finds they are more optimistic about the economy than they’ve been since the company started asking the question nine years ago. 76% of them predict economic growth will improve in 2021, compared to 22% last year (pre-pandemic) and 42% in 2019. Optimism is particularly strong in the U.S., where 86% foresee growth. Moreover, the U.S. was selected as the top market for growth by 35% of the CEOs, widening its lead over China, chosen by 28%. Last year, the U.S. was only one percentage point ahead of China.
I spoke yesterday with Bob Moritz, chairman of the PwC network, who said the results show companies “believe they have built the resiliency and muscle to drive economic momentum.” And the accelerated digital transformation many experienced during the pandemic has given them new confidence in the future. “People are saying, ‘I did it and I survived. Now how do I get real sustained outcomes from my transformation?’”
Some other takeaways:
—Nearly half of the CEOs are planning to increase their digital investment “significantly” (more than 10%) over the next three years because of COVID 19—doubling down on gains made during the pandemic.
—Concern about cyber threat is on the rise, cited by 47% of CEOs, up from 35% last year. That made it the number two concern of global CEOs (after the pandemic), and the number one concern of CEOs in North America and Europe. Last year, overregulation and trade conflicts took the top two spots on the concerns list.
—Concern about climate change is rising, with 43% of CEOs saying their company needs to do more to report on it. But 60% admit they have not yet factored climate into their strategic risk management.
You can download the full survey here.
Also, some new research out this morning from Future Forum by Slack shows Black knowledge workers are less eager to return to the office than white. A survey of those working from home found 97% of Black workers want a hybrid or full-time remote working model, compared to 79% of white workers. Only 3% of Black workers want to return to work full time, compared to 21% of white workers. Understanding why that difference exists—and developing strategies to address it—will be critical to ensuring the future of office work is more inclusive than the past. You can find more on the research here.
News below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
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This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer.
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