Headcounts look to be increasing across Australia with 85% of CEOs saying they expect to boost employee numbers in their organisation. These results come from
Global CEO Outlook 2015 which has been recently released by
KPMG.
This new report surveyed approximately 1,200 chief executives from the world’s largest companies, 52 of which were from Australia. With 85% of CEOs predicting a boost in recruitment, 8% say they expect increases of 25% or more while 56% foresee increases ranging between 6 and 25%. These figures are far higher than the global rate with 78% of CEOs expecting increased hiring worldwide.
“Plans to increase headcount over a three-year horizon are especially encouraging for sustained private sector growth and consumer spending,” said KPMG’s Australian chairman, Peter Nash, highlighting the economic benefits of these future HR trends.
The survey also revealed that Australian CEOs fall behind the rest of the world when it comes to driving innovation within their organisation. Only 23% of large Aussie businesses have developed and implemented a company-wide strategy that heightens innovation among staff, operations and products. Budget constraints were the primary reason given for these low figures.
“Even more important than company-wide processes is the mindset and cultural attitude an organisation displays towards innovation. Lack of budget to support innovation suggests Australian business culture still has a ways to travel to fully embrace [it] and without funding [for] support … topline revenue growth will be difficult to achieve,” James Mabbott, head of innovation services at KPMG, said.
The report also delved into other business-related statistics for Australian CEOs. Some of the more interesting trends are listed below:
- 73% are now more confident about the global economy over the next three years
- 52% are optimistic about their own organisation’s chances for growth during this period
- 8% feel their organisation’s growth strategies are “very aggressive”
- 81% think that their firms are taking exactly the right amount of risk
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