CEOs Are Leaning Toward a Hiring Spree

Looks like AI won’t be taking the place of all those vacant jobs after all. CEOs at bigger companies — some who laid off a lot of people over the last eight months — are chomping at the bit to hire.

Seventy-two percent of CEOs polled by KPMG say their companies will be hiring this year. Nearly a third expect a “significant” increase in personnel. Only 4% say more layoffs are likely in 2024.

KPMG’s “U.S. CEO 2024 Outlook: Pulse Survey” shows CEOs are realistic about the challenges of retaining and attracting talent. Burnout is a growing concern for the C-suite and especially HR professionals who are increasingly banging the drum for wellness initiatives.

Chief execs say they’re open to new strategies and are putting time and money into wellness initiatives. For example:

• 74% are “implementing more initiatives focused on mental well-being such as digital wellness solutions, mindfulness seminars, resilience workshops and coaching sessions”
• 61% are “encouraging employees to use Generative AI to automate mundane tasks to better manage their workload and relieve stress”
• 60% are promoting “employee volunteering and in-person training and development” to help build camaraderie
• 56% are holding managerial training to talk about well-being and stress, and
• 30% are open to cutting the work week to 4 or 4.5 days.

About a third of CEOs prefer workers come into the office five days a week, a big drop from last year’s survey when 62% wanted everyone back. Forty-six percent are amenable to a hybrid work schedule — up from 34% in 2023. For companies eager to attract finance talent like accountants, work-at-home flexibility can help seal the deal.

CEOs Confident Hiring Is Key to Growth

The big-company CEOs polled by KPMG are very bullish on the U.S. economy — 87% say they’re confident it’s going to grow over the next year. Fewer (78%) expect the global economy to expand as robustly.

Seventy-eight percent expect to see revenue and/or organizational growth within their own companies. CEOs cited “regulatory concerns, operational issues, cyber security and tax as the greatest threats to growth.”