Populism is the top concern for chief executive officers in Western Europe, while their peers in Central and Eastern Europe worry more about the availability of key skills. That is according to the 21st CEO Survey by multinational professional services network PWC, released earlier in 2018.
As the survey’s report notes, what is especially striking are the issues that don’t top the list of concerns, chief among them being the “future of the Eurozone”, with fewer than one in five CEOs ranking it as an “extreme concern”. This is true even in Western Europe, which saw the largest fall in ‘extreme concern’ regarding the ‘future of the Eurozone’, from 28 per cent in 2017 to 19 per cent this year. Perhaps fears of the Eurozone’s demise have faded with more positive economic numbers in the past year and supportive monetary policy.
When tallied up with answers by CEOs from all other regions of the globe, the top five ranking of “extreme concerns” were Over Regulation, Terrorism, Geopolitical Uncertainty, Cyber Threats and Availability of Key Skills.
Download the full survey results here.
