Financial executives are starting to return to pre-pandemic levels of confidence about the future of the economy, according to the
The survey, conducted Oct. 14-21 by the Financial Education & Research Foundation in collaboration with the Big Four firm, found financial executives’ national economic outlook increased to 6.19 on a scale of 1-10 in the third quarter, up from 5.21 in the first quarter, while the ranking of economic uncertainty averaged 2.08, below the first quarter ranking of 2.22 but higher than the second quarter rating of 1.86.
“This is the first real shift we have seen in member sentiment since the pandemic began. We are encouraged by this new confidence and believe it will manifest in increased digital transformation and will bring a renewed focus on employee retention, to include the hiring of certain sought-after skills in the accounting profession,” said Andrej Suskavcevic (pictured), president and CEO of FEI and the FERF, in a statement. “Even with the substantial economic rebound in the third quarter, management teams report being most preoccupied with lingering economic uncertainty. Given the soaring caseloads through much of the country and the lack of economic stimulus, this preoccupation will likely continue through the remainder of 2020.”
Survey respondents in the South were most confident in the national economy, with a 6.47 ranking, followed by the Midwest (6.23), West (6.08) and Northeast (5.58). In terms of confidence in their regional economies, the South again produced the highest score, at 6.97, compared to respondents in the Northeast reporting a score of 6.38.
Forty-four percent of respondents said their company’s working capital increased in the third quarter compared to the second quarter (28 percent), while the percent of respondents indicating that their capital balances decreased fell 10 points from second quarter.
The survey found a renewed focus on attracting and retaining qualified talent and digital transformation and adoption. Following a net negative headcount differential — defined as the difference between the proportion of those planning to increase headcount less those planning to decrease headcount — in Q1 (-30 percent) and Q2 (-6 percent), Q3 tracked a 10 percent net positive. And 49 percent of respondents indicated that they were either accelerating their digital transformation efforts or adopted new ones in the third quarter, compared to 44 percent who reported that they hadn’t changed their plans and 7 percent who currently do not have any plans to digitally transform.
