66 Percent of CEOs Plan to Freeze or Downsize Workforce Size

Despite a politically and economically tumultuous start to the month of August, CEO confidence stayed steadily pessimistic. Although the index did rise – for the first time in months and by only 0.4 percent—it still remains at a low 5.30 out of a possible 10. The Index, Chief Executive’s monthly gauge of CEOs’ perceptions of overall business conditions, has seen a 17 percent drop from February’s 2011 high of 6.39. Now, only 45.3 percent of CEOs expect business conditions to be at least ‘good’ in the next year, up from July’s 41 percent.

Despite the debt ceiling drama and the S&P’s downgrade, the view of current conditions only dropped .01 from July to 4.64 out of 10.

One CEO attributes the steady, albeit tepid, numbers to individual company performances versus business conditions as a whole, “Individual companies may do well coming out of the recessions, but the cyclical economy will accelerate. This will be exacerbated by poor domestic policy in a world of countries hungry to compete.”

Expectations for the future remain wary and generally pessimistic. Fewer chief executives expect to see an increase in revenue over the next year as compared to July; only 59.11 percent expect a revenue increase versus July’s 60.6 percent. This is a 20 percent drop from April when 74 percent of CEOs expected to see increased revenues.

Just over half of CEOs do, however, expect to see an increase in profits, a slight improvement over last month. In July, 52 percent of chief executives expected a profit increase, whereas 53.13 expected a profit increase in August.

July’s better-than-expected unemployment numbers also seem to be echoed here. The unemployment rate moved down slightly to 9.1 percent and 34.43 percent of CEOs expected to increase hiring over the next year (although the 66 percent majority of CEOs don’t expect to increase hiring).

Following the debt ceiling circus, attitudes toward the government have remained sour. One CEO said, “As I approach my 44th year in business, the last 20 as CEO, I can never remember a time when I felt so disenfranchised from our leadership in Washington. They seem determined to continue their ongoing anti-business attitude and to frustrate small and mid-sized businesses by uncertainty on taxes, government regulations, and simply too many bureaucratic restrictions. We desperately need a change in Washington.”

I couldn’t have come up with a more poisonous agenda for recovery than Obama has.

There is plenty of pent-up demand here in the US. Cash sitting on the sidelines. Hungry people wanting to work; the newcomers and recent grads, the older folks wanting to have some assurances for their future, the tradesmen who have been idled by the downturn, etc.

They are all like horses in the gate, ready for the signal.

Its coming in November 2012. You betcha!

Once the stock market started to tank from mid-July on, I knew bad things were going to happen.

Indeed, right now just in the USA companies are now sitting on US$2 TRILLION in liquid assets and not using them, out of fear of the declining economy and paying for increasing government regulations/mandates from the Obama Administration. I think there is increasing fear we could see a repeat of what FDR did--force private holders of precious metals to give up coins and bullion blocks but go one step further: seize a large fraction of the companies' liquid asset holdings, essentially centralizing control of the US economy altogether.

Without o-POS the flood gates could open. However, most of the clap trap that this bunch of vermin have passed needs to be repealed and then some. Not only is to o-POS agenda a black cloud over the country so is a whole heck of a bunch of other stuff... just kill off the EPA, OSHA, DOE, HUD, HHS ETC.

I have been planning a new business venture with every intention of a product Made in America. By the time I got through with the business plan and all the crap it takes to get things done here... it’ll probably be made in China or somewhere. No matter what, the climate is wrong with o-POS in the District of Corruption.

Some of the latest labor “right” stories are enough to scare you to death. You can’t even fire terrible employees without some damn labor judge making them eligible for unemployment. The state insurance funds are so broke they are coming back on the employer for unemployment.

66 Percent of CEOs Plan to Freeze or Downsize Workforce Size

From what I understand, 70% of corporate political donations (and I would venture to say the same percentage of CEO's) went to demoRAT in 2008's elections, especially to 0dumb0 the commie pig candidate at the time.

I work for a large multi-national corporation and our CEO was just slobbering over 0dumb0 during the 2008 election timeframe and especially during the "heady" first 6-7 months of 0bumb0 slamming his trillion dollar programs through Congress with complicity of demoRAT socialists, and racking up a record $4 trillion deficits in his first 24 months. Odumb0 was featured predominantly on our corporate intranet company website during the first 4-5 months of 2009, which was a first to have a blatant partisan politician like 0dbumb0 featured EVERY DAY on our company intranet website for those first 4-5 months of 2009. Unbelievable! I don't remember GW Bush's name even being ever mentioned on our intranet company website in 8 years of his time in office, unless it likely done so in a negative, critical way.

So my questions to this CEO and the other 70% dumb ass CEO's who contributed & voted for the kenyan commie pig, are this.... WTH were you thinking, you bunch of dumb asses? You elect a guy to be president simply because he is black (well 1/2 black, we won't consider the 1/2 white)? How stupid can you CEO's (including my company CEO) be? Did you ever stop to ask yourself what the commie pig has ever accomplished or achieved, besides being the perfect affirmative action candidate and a radical socialist commie pig?

Personally I would love to take the 70% CEO's and their top execs who voted for 0dumb0, into separate rooms, and just beat the living sh_t right out of them for being so stupid to contribute financially and put this unaccomplished, radical, commie pig into the highest office of the greatest nation in the history of the world.

Another personal opinion, I would bet that most of the 70% CEO's who supported 0dumb0 in 2008, will do so again in a heartbeat in 2012.

These CEOs are immoral, unprincipled, devious, deceptive & greedy, and have no personal moral convictions or standards, other than their own privileged hedonistic lifestyles. They contribute more money to demoRATs including 0dumb0, because they take advantage of the Pay to Play game. The more money they give to demoRATs & Odumb0, the more insider access they will be given to the WH or free junkets with congressional senators or House reps at taxpayers expense. Repubs don't play the Pay to Play game as much or effectively as the demoRATs and therefore less CEO donations flow to Repubs.

That's the incestuous nature of Big Business's relationship & workings with Big Gubmint under the regime of 0dumb0. You want influence or an audience with 0dumb0? You gotta pay first!

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