Also: Grandparents' leave, China GDP, Microsoft shares 'Call of Duty'
Good Monday morning.
After a year of waiting for the Godot recession, CEOs seem to be giving up. In our latest poll of 143 CEOs conducted in collaboration with Deloitte (which sponsors this newsletter), only 38% said they had a “pessimistic” or “very pessimistic” outlook for the global economy for the next 12 months, down substantially from the 76% answering the same question last October.
But inflation fears remain strong. Indeed, 57% of the CEOs said they expect inflation to disrupt their business over the next 12 months. A similar percentage said they expected geopolitical developments to disrupt their business over the next year.
The poll also shows CEOs are very bullish about new developments in A.I., with 79% saying A.I. is likely to significantly enhance business efficiencies in their organization. You can read more from the new poll here.
A separate poll from JPMorgan also out this morning shows only 45% of midsize business leaders expect a recession before year-end, down from 65% six months ago.
How do you invest in this kind of economy? Our Fortune team taps the experts for their best advice in Fortune’s new Quarterly Investment Guide here.
Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
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Grandparent leave
Companies like Fannie Mae, Cisco, and Booking.com are introducing a new benefit to keep their older workers: “grandparent leave,” or extra paid time off to look after grandchildren. Older workers say they appreciate the flexibility to jump in and care for a grandchild in the event of an emergency. More companies are offering benefits targeting older employees, like elder care consultants and menopause benefits, as the American workforce ages. Fortune
China’s slump
China’s youth unemployment crisis continues to worsen with a record 21.3% of those aged 16 to 24 out of work in June. China’s statistics bureau reported 6.3% year-on-year GDP growth on Monday, coming in below consensus expectations of 7.3%. Chinese officials are reluctant to launch larger stimulus programs to revive the economy, even as the country flirts with deflation. CNBC
Call of Duty
Microsoft has promised to offer the popular “Call of Duty” video games to competitor Sony for the next decade, placating some antitrust concerns about its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The fate of the Activision-developed shooter series on Sony’s PlayStation was a major point of contention between the two gaming giants. According to a (poorly redacted) Sony document, the game series may have generated $800 million in revenue for Sony in 2021 in the U.S. alone. The Verge
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Evolving board equity and representation According to a recent report from Deloitte and the Alliance for Board Diversity, 22% of Fortune 500 board seats were held by individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, up from 17.5% in 2020. While this shows improvement, the level of representation in the Fortune 500 lags the Fortune 100. Explore additional key findings from the Missing Pieces Report here.
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Fortune's Impact Initiative Event |
FORTUNE Impact Initiative convening on September 12-13 Fortune's Impact Initiative will explore the intersection of environmental, social, and governance efforts that are bringing measurable change to the world. Register to learn more. |
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