Posted on 09/17/21
| News Source: FOX Business
The U.S. economy is poised for a strong recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, but faces fresh risks from a widespread labor shortage and rising infections among the unvaccinated, according to a survey of American CFOs.
Although 78% of CFOs surveyed by the Deloitte Global CFO Program said that economic conditions in North America are "good" or "very good" – an increase from the previous quarter – only 54% think the outlook is set to improve over the course of the next year.
The decline in optimism likely reflects the economic uncertainty triggered by a number of external factors such as the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, return-to-work delays, inflation and supply chain disruption, among other issues.
Internally, CFOs cited difficulty attracting and retaining labor and a potential slowdown in return-to-work as the biggest risks facing their businesses.
"Talent and labor have been a perennial internal risk cited by CFOs in our quarterly surveys," Deloitte said. "This quarter, though, concerns over talent and labor and a host of related issues – from retention to morale, disgruntlement, and rising wages – are even more pronounced among CFOs."