CEO Optimism for Economic Climate Down Slightly since June 2021

In a recent poll of a select group of business executives attending The CEO Forum Group’s September 2021 Transformative CEO Summit, 55% indicated they believe the economic and business climate for their industry is strong or heading in the right direction, down from 72% at the June 2021 Summit. While few executives believe the economic outlook is bleak (only 13% feel it is weak or heading in the wrong direction), nearly a third (32%) report that they expect their industry to “hold steady” through the remainder of the year. Polling from the same event suggests that concerns over lingering supply chain issues (94% report that they expect issues to continue to impact their business at least somewhat through next year) and the pandemic’s continuing impact on business operations (82% expect the pandemic to continue impacting business operations into next year or beyond) may be tempering some of the optimism executives felt earlier this year.