CFO Survey Bleak for 2012

As businesses finalize budgets and strategic plans for 2012, their outlook for hiring and controlling cost increases in health benefits is looking grim, according to the latest survey of CFO's by the Grant Thornton accounting firm.

Overall, optimism plummeted. Less than a quarter of CFO's (22%) planned on hiring in the next six months, a 50% drop from six months earlier.

The national survey of 254 CFO's and senior comptrollers included 48 public and private corporations in the central U.S., including Missouri which accounting for 25% of central region respondents which also included firms in Ark., Col., Kan, Ky., La., Neb., Okla., and Texas. Overall, those central region companies reported the following expectations over the next year (with the national response for comparison):
• Only 25% expected to be hiring (22% nationally)
• Overall, the cost of health care was the number one price pressure concern. 70.2% expected health care costs to increase for the company and its employees (75% nationally).

Over the next six months, those same central region companies reported the following:
• 39.1% expected the economy to get worse (37% nationally), 43.5% expected the economy to stay the same (52% nationally), while only 17.4% expected the economy to improve (11% nationally)
• 33.3% expected their financial prospects to improve (28% nationally), 52.1% expected prospects to remain the same (57% nationally), 14.6% expected it to get worse (15% nationally).
• 53.2% expected their prices or fees to remain the same (61% nationally), 40.4% expected an increase (32% nationally), and 6.4% expected a decrease (7% nationally).

The survey included firms in the following industries - banking/financial institutions, financial services, construction, energy, government agency, health care, manufacturing, real estate, retail, technology, transportation and others. It was conducted from Sept. 27, 2011 to Oct. 12, 2011.

To download the survey, click here. 

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