In StrategicCIO360’s latest confidence pulse poll finds CIOs hopeful about where the economy may be headed, the only member of the C-Suite that we’ve polled who expect conditions to improve—rating business conditions 12 months out as 6.2/10.
The poll of of 100 CIOs, CTOs and senior IT executives, conducted May 14-17, finds their rating of future conditions down 11 percent since our last quarterly poll in December of 2021, when they expected business conditions to improve to 7/10. Their rating of current conditions is down 9 percent from December, when they rated conditions as 6.7/10.
CIOs say that labor shortages and inflation are the main drivers of their forecast. They add that issues in the supply chain further exacerbate the situation and share their disapproval of the federal government’s actions, including a rising interest rate. Many also share forecasts of recession.
“Inflation and supply chain issues are eroding consumer confidence. That combined with generalized social fragmentation dampens my rating,” says Cameron Davies, Chief Data Officer at Yum Brands.
“This administration appears to be working towards an agenda that does not reflect on the greatest gifts this country has to offer. Prior to this administration, my current rating would be 9-10 and forecast would be 8-9,” says Steve S. Mooney, CTO/CISO at Truity Credit Union, who rates current conditions as 5/10 and future conditions 6/10.
The reasons CIOs list as concerning are not far off from other members of the C-suite who we polled, such as CEOs—whose rating of future business conditions just reached its lowest point in almost 6 years. Inflation, supply chain snarls and rising interest rates that could lead to a recession are their top concerns and why they rate future conditions as 5.9/10—lowest of the C-Suite.
CFOs cite similar reasons including inflation, market uncertainties and shortages of key goods as to why their rating plummeted 6 percent. CHROs blame their 8 percent drop in confidence on record rates of resignation, wage growth and inflation.
Despite their gloomy rating of current conditions, CIOs are the only member of the C-suite where a plurality forecasts improvement, at 39 percent.
Wesley Anderson, Enterprise Architect at Emerson, a large industrial manufacturing company, expects conditions to improve from 7/10 now to 8/10 in the future, he says. “There will be a change in the political environment and a calming of the European conflict.”
“The pandemic affected the markets but it is picking up again. Organizations have started focusing on their short and long term goals again. We are ready to invest for long term and that will help the market to go up significantly,” says the VP of technology of a financial services firm with over $1 billion in revenues. He rates current conditions as 5/10 and expects them to significantly improve over the course of the next year, rating business conditions 12 months out as 8/10.
Only 26 percent of CIOs expect the conditions to deteriorate over the course of the next year. Many of these CIOs say that there is fear of a recession and reduced revenues.
“Economic impact resulting from inflation and the potential of reduced revenue collections,” says the CIO of a nonprofit who expects conditions to 7/10 from 8/10, currently.
Another managing director of IT who expects future conditions to be “weak” or a 4/10 on our scale, down from 8/10 currently, blames his rating on “Inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain issues, fear of or actual recession.”
About the CIO Confidence Index
The CIO Confidence Index is a new monthly pulse survey of CIOs and technology chiefs on their perspective of how current events are affecting their companies and strategies. Every month, StrategicCIO360 surveys hundreds of CIOs across America, at organizations of all types and sizes, to compile our CIO Confidence Index data. The Index tracks confidence in current and future business environments, as well as their forecast for their company’s revenue, profit, cyber and tech investments, and IT staffing for the year ahead. Learn more at StrategicCIO360.com/CIO-Confidence-Index.
